Harvard Law prof who fired pellet gun near synagogue, said he was ‘hunting rats’ agrees to leave US: DHS

NY Post ^ | 12/05/25 | Samuel Chamberlain

[Libloather]

A Brazilian Harvard Law School professor who pleaded guilty last month to illegally firing an air rifle outside a Boston-area synagogue — and told police he was “hunting rats” — has agreed to leave the US following his arrest by Immigration and Customs Enforcement this week.

Carlos Portugal Gouvea, 43, copped Nov. 13 to a single charge of illegal use of the air rifle in connection with the Oct. 2 incident outside of Brookline’s Temple Beth Zion, which took place on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in Judaism.

The scholar was arrested by ICE Boston Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Wednesday and agreed to return to Brazil voluntarily to avoid deportation, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

“It is a privilege to work and study in the United States, not a right,” DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. “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 [sic] as a country and an unacceptable threat against law-abiding American citizens.”

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TOPICS: Business/Economy; Conspiracy; Education; History
KEYWORDS: aliens; banglist; carlosportugalgouvea; dhs; harvard; huntingrats; terrorism

[NorthMountain]

I believe in diversity, and practice equal opportunity.

I’m inclusive: I hate everybody.

Except during National Brotherhood Week.

[rlmorel]

"If you killed all the rats, who’d be left to run the city?"

Hahahahahahahaha!

I live in suburbia, nowhere near any kind of city, and some time ago, we noticed...rats!

When outdoors, I tend to be more tolerant of various rodents such as field mice, shrews, and squirrels, but have drawn the line at groundhogs and chipmunks.

In the middle of the night, I would occasionally wake up to see my two cats sitting in the bedroom window, their heads bobbing from side to side, and when I looked, I caught movement in shadows, but couldn't make out what it was.

Then, one day laying in my hammock, I saw a RAT climbing up on my bird feeder. A pretty big one. I know people say never to use rat poison, and I understand their concerns, but...I suspect few of them have ever had rats they couldn't get rid of. I tried that, but it didn't get rid of them.

I put out traps, and I caught one. But still they were coming around.

So I took an air rifle with me to my hammock, and whenever I saw one, I would take a shot at it. Eventually, they disappeared.

But you must be very careful-people are more alarmed by the sight of a pellet gun than they are by a pack of rats, oddly enough. My back yard is fenced in, which is good, but I was careful not to make myself visible to neighbors, and always knew what direction I was shooting in.

This guy, if he was plinking rats, should have known better. I am not convinced he was, but if he says so, poor judgement on his part.

[Col Frank Slade]

You can’t even buy fireworks in MA, even sparklers.

Everyone goes to NH to get fireworks every July 4.

MA State Police sit at the border and pull over cars with MA plates returning .

[yldstrk]

Someone asked me if I went to Harvard and I said “You couldn’t pay me to go to that school.”

[rlmorel]

Yep. All gun laws suck in Massachusetts, and I know it from personal experience.

[Cletus.D.Yokel]

I live in Michigan so, it all milk and honey here either.
But, it could be worse.
I could be living in Masshole.

[BereanBrain]

It’s illegal to intimidate/menace/threaten people.

For example, if you get a tire iron out the back of your car, and wave it over your head in a threatening manner to some individual, you can be arrested.

Shooting an air rifle in a city around a church, on a particular holy day is intended to intimidate/harass/threaten.

Did you know that some air rifles are as powerful as a .22 rifle? You can kill game with them.

[ladyjane]

Everyone goes to NH to get fireworks every July 4.

Remember when one of the Kennedy guys injured his hand one 4th of July playing with fireworks down on Cape Cod.

[Opinionated Blowhard]

This is what is teaching kids at the allegedly “elite” universities. And there are hundreds of US citizen professors who would do the same thing and who we can’t deport. Any wonder why our education system is going down the toilet?

[Gay State Conservative]

Hunting rats????

The Nazis had many propaganda posters to push their cr@p. Many of them were aimed at Jews and I recall one of them specifically showing a likeness of a rat wearing glasses which was meant to depict Jews as rats.

[TheDon]

I too wonder what Carlos defines as rats. He was near a synagogue after all.

[CandyFloss]

The 'rat hunting' excuse sounds like a wild cover, but ICE's quick deportation fits the pattern—over 1,400 criminal aliens removed in Nov 2025 alone (DHS stats).

It's frustrating when elite schools drag their feet on visa revocations. Wonder if this pushes more scrutiny on academic visas overall—what's the fix for foreign student vetting?

[faithhopecharity]

sounds like the neo-antisemitic bigot farm called Harvard

[stylin19a]

thanks for doing my homework. and the rest of your are regular riots...

Now I wonder why a municipality can have a law more severe than the state law ?
I suppose it depends on the state...

I should image shooting RATs would be doing some people a favor.

[Leaning Right]

Once again, thank goodness Trump is president.

Had Kamala won, this guy would have been awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his attempt to reduce the rat population.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

Yes, I’ve seen that Nazi propaganda poster. Great connection! Thanks.

[DAC21]

Any comment from Harvard?

[ProtectOurFreedom]

It sounds like he intentionally traveled 4 miles to "shoot rats" at the Brookline synagogue and he wasn't in his own backyard. Rather odd.

But Brookline does not seem to be a town with a large Jewish population.

Religion	Adherents	Congregations
Catholic	355,321	52
Mainline Protestant	33,086	115
Other	30,593	75
Evangelical Protestant	11,323	89
Orthodox	3,539	9
None	236,988	-

[catnipman]

why are foreigners teaching USA law in the USA, anyway?

[Cold Heart]

City ordinance. I remember as a kid finding an old city ordinance book. One of the ordinances restricted hat pin length.