Virtually no one acquitted themselves well in the murders on Brown University’s campus on Saturday, in particular the school’s president, Christina Paxson.
For the rest of us, hopefully Thursday night’s media briefing — in which law enforcement announced that the man they said was responsible, 48-year-old former student Claudio Neves-Valente, killed himself in a New Hampshire self-storage unit some 80 miles north of Providence, Rhode Island — was hopefully the last time we have to care about her. For those who have to deal with her, however, the media briefing was another reminder that DEI and wokeness empties the room of adults sooner rather than later.
If you didn’t catch the media briefing, we’ve covered it elsewhere. Suffice it to say that, after a few days of false starts, authorities suddenly noticed the similarities in the shootings at Brown and the killing of a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor two days later. This led them to Neves-Valente, who was allegedly terminated from a monitor position at the same Portuguese school the MIT professor, Nuno Loureiro, graduated from. Paxson also revealed the man had briefly been a graduate student there in the same year he was terminated from the position in Portugal.
The first part of the media briefing involved every major player congratulating themselves and everyone else on capturing the shooter who killed two people at Brown and one in Brookline, Massachusetts, even if they did not manage to capture him alive. The second part involved questions — which, as anyone who’s seen these debacles can attest to, is not their strong point.
In particular, Paxson was grilled on the lack of cameras in the hall where the shooting took place.
“There were no cameras in this building. And law enforcement, some of them are standing up behind you, have said if Brown had cameras in that part of the building, we would have gotten this guy,” one reporter asked.
“Well, I don’t think we have said the locations of cameras at Brown,” she said, before the reporter noted that the footage that reportedly ended up breaking the case was video from a car rental agency.
“We have 1,200 cameras at Brown–” Paxson continued.
“But not in that building,” the reporter responded.
“We have some in that building, it’s a large complex, and I think what you would see is the video evidence in this case … has been incredibly helpful,” she said. “The moving of the person around the neighborhood, those video images, they helped crack this case.”
As a follow-up, the reporter noted that it was the neighbors’ video, not Brown’s, that was helpful in solving the case.
“You did not have cameras in that building. Just say it so we can get this over,” the reporter said in frustration.
“I think we need to look back, we’ll look at everything that was done,” she said. “But I do not think a lack of cameras in that building had anything to do with what happened there.”
🚨 BREAKING: MULTIPLE reports just EVISCERATED Brown University’s DEI President for covering up their camera situation
“You DID NOT have cameras in this building! Just SAY IT so we can get this over!”
“Law enforcement standing behind you said if Brown has cameras in that part… pic.twitter.com/wU8KmZgsuH
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) December 19, 2025
So first, video helped. But no video in the building? That had nothing to do with it. Even though that apparently wasn’t the line from law enforcement.
To the extent this makes any sense, it also brings up the fact that this answer seems particularly convenient when you realize the backlash Paxson is getting from allegations that camera usage was cut back at the behest of pro-Palestinian activists who did not want to be caught on film, as per reports:
Jesse Watters: “Over the summer, radical left human rights groups demanded Brown [University] disable its security cameras so Palestinian activists could raise h*ll under the radar. Did they cave? We asked – no response.”pic.twitter.com/fU5zXIVOYe
— Thomas Sowell Quotes (@ThomasSowell) December 18, 2025
Then again, as per Hanlon’s razor, one should never ascribe to malice what can be explained by incompetence, of which there has been no shortage from Paxson during this investigation.
Here’s her explaining how a system that the school’s website said can be used in the case of an active shooter is “not a system we would ever use in the case of an active shooter.”
Reporter: Why didn’t the siren emergency system go off?
Brown University President: “That’s not a system we would ever use in the case of an active shooter.”
Reporter: “It does say on the website…that it is for an active shooter.”
Brown University President: “It depends on… pic.twitter.com/SgBHecIplP
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) December 16, 2025
And here she is explaining why, six hours after the shooting, she did not know what the students were doing in the classroom where they were shot:
🚨 Q: “With all due respect, six hours after the shooting, and you said you don’t know what was going on in that classroom?… Were they taking an exam, were they meeting for a club?”
Brown President Christina Paxson: “I don’t know.”
Q: “6 hours later. You’re the president.… pic.twitter.com/V9VK8LBgvx
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) December 14, 2025
They were in a review session for an econ final, for those of you curious.
Does Brown need to remove Christina Paxson from the university presidency?
It’s too much to hope for that everyone who has demonstrated acute ineptitude during this investigation gets fired. However, donors have proved they can force change at major universities, particularly Ivy League institutions which rely on wealthy benefactors to keep the largesse rolling. Paxson’s conduct during this whole tragic affair has been uniformly unacceptable, and Brown alumni ought to give her a vote of no confidence with their donation dollars.
Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. Advertise Today.
