Visiting Harvard instructor leaves U.S. after BB-gun incident DHS labelled antisemitic

The gates of Harvard Yard at Harvard University, Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025, in Cambridge, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)

BOSTON — A Harvard visiting law professor from Brazil who told police he was shooting at rats when he fired a BB gun near a synagogue during Yom Kippur has left the United States after his visa was revoked, federal officials and his lawyer confirmed on Thursday.

After Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested Carlos Portugal Gouvêa on Wednesday, officials said he agreed to depart the United States voluntarily instead of being deported. He arrived in Brazil on Thursday, according to a statement from his attorney, Joseph D. Eisenstadt.

Homeland Security officials described the shooting event in October as antisemitic, but in a social media post days after the incident, Temple Beth Zion in the Boston metropolitan area town of Brookline said it did not appear to be motivated by antisemitism. Police initially told the synagogue that “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. We were told he said he was shooting rats.”

In a statement Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin called working and studying in the United States a privilege, “not a right.”

“There is no room in the United States for brazen, violent acts of anti-Semitism like this. They are an affront to our core principals as a country and an unacceptable threat against law-abiding American citizens,” she said.

According to the Brookline Police’s report on Gouvêa’s October arrest, law enforcement was called to Temple Beth Zion for a report of a “person with a gun” just after 9 p.m. on Oct. 1 during Yom Kippur, considered the holiest day for Jews who spend it seeking to atone for sins and seek forgiveness.

Private security assigned to guard the temple during holiday services said they’d heard “at least two loud shots fired” and spotted Gouvêa behind a tree holding the rifle, according to the report.

An officer began to approach Gouvêa and the professor set the rifle down against the tree before “the two began to get in a brief physical struggle falling to the ground after Mr. Gouvêa lunged towards the rifle,” the arrest report reads.

Gouvêa initially pleaded not guilty to three misdemeanor and one felony charges: illegally discharging a BB gun, vandalism, disorderly conduct and disturbing the peace.

David Linton, spokesperson for Norfolk District Attorney Michael Morrissey, said all charges against Gouvêa but the misdemeanor illegal BB gun discharge charge were dismissed last month.

As part of a plea agreement, Gouvêa was placed on pretrial probation for six months on the one charge and was ordered to pay restitution of US$386.59 to a person whose car window he broke with a pellet. He did not change his plea from not guilty.

After the six months, if he doesn’t break any laws, that final count will be dismissed administratively. Gouvêa will not be required to go before a judge.

DHS said Gouvêa’s J-1 visa, a non-immigrant visas for people participating in exchange visitor programs, was revoked by the State Department on Oct. 16 following “an anti-Semitic shooting incident in October.”

Harvard Law School’s website lists Gouvêa as a visiting professor of law for the fall 2025 semester. He was teaching two courses: Corruption and Inequality Seminar: Unraveling the Vicious Circle and Sustainable Capitalism. The site says Gouvêa is an associate professor at the University of São Paulo Law School and CEO of the Global Law Institute, a think tank on environmental and social justice in Brazil.

Harvard did not have a comment on Gouvêa’s case.

In a statement after Gouvêa’s arrest in October, University of Sao Paulo’s Law School Director Celso Fernandes Campilongo repudiated “the malicious and distorted insinuations” against Gouvêa, noting his history of advocating for human rights and his affinities, including family ties, to the Jewish community.

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Brumfield reported from Cockeysville, Md. AP journalist Gabriela Sá Pessoa contributed from São Paulo, Brazil.

Sarah Brumfield And Leah Willingham, The Associated Press