Brown University’s removal of a university profile of student Mustapha Kharbouch has started an online spiral as police continue their investigation into a deadly shooting on campus.
University officials have not confirmed any connection between the removed profiles and the attack, and law enforcement has not publicly identified a suspect yet.
Highlights
- Brown University removed Mustapha Kharbouch’s profile amid a deadly campus shooting and ongoing police investigation with no confirmed suspect.
- Providence police released footage of a masked person of interest near Brown’s campus hours before the shooting occurred Saturday.
- Social media speculation linked student Mustapha Kharbouch to the shooting, despite no official confirmation or evidence.
The shooting took place Saturday inside a Brown University lecture hall where students attended a final exam review session.
Social media users have scrutinized a Brown student after his profile was removed by the university
Image credits: Kyle Mazza/Getty Images
Two people were killed, and nine others were injured. Four days later, the person responsible has not been identified, and the investigation remains active.
On Tuesday, Providence police released new “enhanced” surveillance footage showing a person of interest near the university hours before the shooting.
The footage shows a man in a black hat with a black mask covering his mouth and nose walking around campus. Providence Police Chief Oscar Perez said the video shows the person “casing” the area, which is “something criminals do.”
He asked the public to carefully review the footage and pay attention to the individual’s walk, posture, and asked residents to share any footage they may have from their personal cameras.
Police said the person of interest was near Brown’s campus from 10:30 a.m. on Saturday.
Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha stated that investigators are reviewing substantial amounts of video and digital evidence and following up on nearly 200 tips submitted by the public. He noted that law enforcement is unaware of any information that suggests the gunman’s motive was related to “ethnicity or political outlook or culture.”
First-year Palestinian refugee student Kharbouch has come under speculation online after the university was found to have deleted his profile on its website.
Image credits: Brown University
Kharbouch, a third-generation Palestinian refugee brought up in Lebanon, was studying International Affairs and Anthropology at the university with a focus on the Middle East. He reportedly received a scholarship to attend United World College (UWC) Maastricht in the Netherlands, as per the deleted profile.
Several users on X alleged that Brown University was scrubbing references to the student, scrutinizing whether social media accounts linked to him had been removed at the request of the authorities.
“Why has Brown University suddenly erased every mention of Mustapha Kharbouch (a Palestinian activist and first-year student) from its official website, right as the FBI intensifies its manhunt for the shooter who killed two and injured nine in the campus attack?” a user wrote.
And thus began the social media debate.
Laura Loomer, a MAGA leader, alleged on X that she found a YouTube account belonging to a man named Mustapha Kharbouch, full of Islamic videos teaching how to build electronic devices at home with wires.
“In the video below, notice how he holds his hands behind his back in the surveillance video released by Providence, Rhode Island police yesterday. This is common in Middle East culture, and witnesses said it sounded like the shooter was speaking Arabic, in addition to screaming Allahu Akbar!” Loomer claimed.
“Why won’t police say what the shooter yelled before he opened fire? ALLAHU AKBAR is what witnesses heard,” she added.
Mustapha Kharbouch, a Palestinian refugee, was a student at the Center for Middle East Studies
Another X user added more theories, attaching screenshots of reviews on the page Wing Tactical. “A verified U.S. buyer named “Mustapha K.” left a review for a 9mm muzzle brake on the Wing Tactical site on December 29, 2024—the same caliber used in the Brown University sh00ting,” the X user said.
“And fun fact: only a few hundred people in the U.S. have that exact first name + last initial combo.”
Political commentator Brian Krassenstein came out to show a vote of support for Kharbouch. “Mustapha Kharbouch please dm me if you need some advice in dealing with this situation,” Krassenstein began his post.
“For those of you showing your bigotry and hatred of Muslims by spreading lies and conspiracy theories implying that Mustapha Kharbouch is in any way connected to the Brown University tragedy, stop. You are dangerous. Mustapha Kharbouch is not a Suspect. Just stop already.”
Responding to a question regarding Kharbouch, Neronha called it an “area where caution is really necessary.”
“There are a lot of reasons why a page might be taken down, particularly if there is chatter out there … about words that were spoken,” he said.
“It’s easy to jump from someone saying words that were spoken, to what those words are, to a particular name that reflects a motive targeting a particular person.”
“That’s a really dangerous road to go down,” Neronha warned before reassuring journalists at the press conference that “if that name meant nothing to this investigation,” investigators “would be out looking for that person.”
Brown University also issued a statement regarding the scrutiny, saying it has seen “harmful doxxing activity directed toward at least one member of the Brown University community.”
“It’s important to make clear that targeting individuals could do irrevocable harm. Accusations, speculation, and conspiracies we’re seeing on social media and in some news reports are irresponsible, harmful, and in some cases dangerous for the safety of individuals in our community,” the statement said.
Rhode Island’s AG warned people to exercise caution and that unfounded allegations were a ‘dangerous road to go down’
Image credits: Brown University
“It is not unusual as a safety measure to take steps to protect an individual’s safety when this kind of activity happens, including in regard to their online presence. As law enforcement officials stated clearly on Tuesday afternoon, if this individual’s name had any relevance to the current investigation, they would be actively looking for this individual and providing information publicly,” the university reassured people.