The officials presiding over Brown University’s press conferences on the Saturday attack — which left two students dead, including the vice president of the Republican Club, and nine others wounded — are beginning to resemble the Keystone Cops. Five days in, their failure to answer the most basic questions about the deadly shooting leaves most of us wondering why they hold these media briefings at all.
From Providence Police Chief Col. Oscar Perez and Mayor Brett Smiley to Brown University President Christina Paxson and Campus Police Chief Rodney Chatman, the level of incompetence on display has stunned even the most sympathetic observers.
Fox News host Jesse Watters detailed the group’s inadequate response to the tragedy on his Wednesday night program. After five days, officials have no idea “who the shooter is, where he is, or what he looks like,” he said.
The utter desert of information in this case has some wondering if Brown is covering something up. But officials maintain the university is “cooperating fully with law enforcement.”
One question looms large: why were there no cameras inside or outside the Barus & Holley Building where the shooting occurred?
Instead of initial estimates of between 800-900 cameras on campus, it’s now being reported that there were as many as 1,200. Yet none of them captured an image of the shooter prompting Watters to ask, “Is it dumb luck that he found the one blind spot on campus or is he a student who knows the lay of the land?”
Watters played video of a Fox News reporter standing outside the Barus & Holley building which is located on the perimeter of the campus. There were no visible security cameras.
Officials claim the reason there were no cameras inside or outside the building is because it is old. But Watters shows photos of the university president’s home, which is roughly 100 years old. It is fully equipped with “state of the art” security cameras.
Watters reported that “Brown is the most liberal Ivy League school” and that they “take DEI more seriously than safety.”
“The school’s been under intense pressure from the Palestinian students. The president,” he claimed, “has been heckled for years by Muslim underclassmen and she always bends the knee.”
“Over the summer,” he said, “radical human rights groups demanded Brown disable security cameras so Palestinian activists could raise hell under the radar.”
“Did they cave? We asked. No response.”
While this remains speculative, if administrators did in fact disable the cameras in response to pressure from pro-Palestinian activists, the university will have a great deal to answer for.
Unfortunately, this is just one of many questions that remain unanswered.
Watters noted that during the afternoon press conference, the Providence Police Department could not even tell reporters how many students were inside the room where the shooting occurred. Perez said they were trying to “get the roster” from Brown officials. The school’s provost explained that the reason for the delay was that it had been a study session rather than an exam.
This is important because each one of those students was a witness who could provide investigators with important leads in the case. For example, it’s been reported that the gunman shouted something during his rampage. Some allege he yelled, “allahu akbar.” If true, those words could point to the killer’s motive. The public has a right to know this information.
According to Watters, one eyewitness recalled seeing 20 students hiding behind desks, but the New York Times reported there were as many as 60 witnesses. How many are there, and why haven’t they all been interviewed by the PPD?
Minutes after the attack, a video showed the suspect walking by a police cruiser. Because the car’s lights were on, a reporter asked if that also meant its dash camera was activated and may have captured images of the person of interest. Perez replied, “So, that was a Brown Police cruiser and I’m not sure if they have cameras in their cruisers.” He looks to his colleagues to see if they know.
Watters’ team was quickly able to determine that Brown University campus police cruisers do not have dash cams. He was shocked that one of the richest universities in the U.S. doesn’t put dash cams in police vehicles, something he said the poorest counties in the country put in their patrol cars.
Perez told reporters on Wednesday that police have “found physical evidence,” but refused to elaborate.
Watters reported that Brown claims to have video from inside the room, but they have not released it. They insist that the suspect does not appear in the footage. He said officials won’t even tell us “how long the shooter was in the room” or “how long it took police to respond to the scene.”
The building did not require students to swipe an ID card to enter, nor was there a security guard posted at the entrance.
Prior to becoming the head of Brown’s campus police, Rodney Chatman, was hired to lead the security team at the University of Utah. He was suspended shortly after he was hired because “he didn’t have the proper credentials.” He was asked to resign or be fired. He resigned.
So why did Brown hire this man? Maybe because he is allegedly very woke. Watters reported that Chatman once said, “Communities don’t want policing done to them.”
Watters told viewers:
Right before this shooting, Brown’s police union issued a vote of no confidence in Chief Rodney. The chief’s own men accused Rodney of endangering officers and creating a toxic workplace culture.
Watters also addressed Perez, who appears to be as woke as Chatman and believes that diversity in the ranks is essential. ‘It’s too white.’
“Meanwhile,” Watters adds, “the police chief could be compromised. It turns out the chief’s nephew was sentenced to 22 years in federal prison for running one of the largest fentanyl rings in Rhode Island.”
Asked for comment, Rhode Island Democratic Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse had some harsh words for critics of the investigation. “For people who have no idea of what they’re talking about to offer their stupid and ill-informed views about what happened all over the internet. So I would please, just from a law enforcement perspective, ask anyone who sees this to just shut up.” Nice, huh?
Elizabeth writes commentary for Legal Insurrection and The Washington Examiner. She is an academy fellow at The Heritage Foundation. Please follow Elizabeth on X or LinkedIn.
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