BUZZ
‘No reason to believe this was an antisemitic event,’ Jewish leaders say
Harvard Law School placed a visiting professor on leave over the weekend after he allegedly shot a pellet gun near a synagogue during Yom Kippur – although antisemitism is not believed to have been a motive.
Allegedly, Carlos Portugal Gouvea, a law professor from Brazil, told police he was “hunting rats in the area” and was not aware that a synagogue was nearby, according to a statement from the leaders of Temple Beth Zion, posted Sunday on Facebook.
“We also have no reason to believe this was an antisemitic event,” Executive Director Benjamin Maron and President Larry Kraus stated. “Regardless of the motivation, we treated it as a dangerous situation at the time and reacted accordingly.”
The synagogue is located in Brookline, Massachusetts, just a few miles from Harvard’s campus.
Gouvea was placed on administrative leave, The Harvard Crimson reported Sunday.
He also is facing charges of illegally discharging a pellet gun, disorderly conduct, disturbing the peace, and vandalizing property. He pleaded not guilty to all charges Thursday, according to the report.
According to the synagogue leaders, the congregation was gathered for Yom Kippur on Wednesday evening when security guards heard a “loud noise” outside and went to investigate.
Meanwhile, the sanctuary went on temporary lockdown, they stated.
When the security guards found a man outside holding a gun, they “quickly” disarmed him and called the police; the gun was later determined to be a BB gun, according to the synagogue’s statement. The statement does not name Gouvea.
“From what we were initially told by police, the individual was unaware that he lived next to, and was shooting his BB gun next to, a synagogue or that it was a religious holiday,” the Jewish leaders stated.
“We were told he said he was shooting rats; the window of a car parked on Beacon was shot. It was potentially dangerous to use a BB gun in such a populated spot, but it does not appear to have been fueled by antisemitism,” they stated.
Gouvea is a professor at the University of São Paulo Law School in Brazil, and CEO of the Global Law Institute, which focuses on “environmental and social justice,” according to his Harvard bio.
This fall, he is teaching the courses “Sustainable Capitalism” and “Corruption and Inequality Seminar: Unraveling the Vicious Circle” at Harvard.
According to the Free Beacon:
He is a founding member of Instituto Sou da Paz, a Brazilian think tank that led the charge behind the nation’s 2003 gun control act, one of the most restrictive in its history. The law made it illegal for Brazilians to carry weapons outside of their homes and required them to register with a national database of civilian firearms. …
Though pellet guns are not considered firearms under Brazilian law, civilians are barred from carrying them in public, as Gouvea did outside of the synagogue. A Harvard Law spokesman told the Washington Free Beacon Gouvea is “on administrative leave as the school seeks to learn more about this matter.”
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