Visiting law professor Carlos Portugal Gouvea, a Brazilian national, has decided to self-deport, according to federal officials.
U.S. immigration authorities arrested visiting Harvard Law School Professor Carlos Portugal Gouvea on Wednesday following an alleged antisemitic shooting incident outside of a synagogue in the Greater Boston area the day before Yom Kippur—the holiest day of the year in Judaism.
This is the second arrest for Gouvea, 43, a Brazilian national, after authorities say he shot near the synagogue using a pellet gun.
In a plea deal last month involving local charges after the incident, Gouvea did not admit to being motivated by antisemitism. He insisted he was “hunting rats” when he pumped two shots of pellets through a car window across from Temple Beth Zion while worshippers attended service inside.
Gouvea denied having antisemitic motivations.
The synagogue was on lockdown while its private security team searched for and found Gouvea behind a tree. He put his gun down when approached by security and fled, according to police. He was later arrested at home, according to the Jewish Post and News.
U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin called the incident an “unacceptable threat.”
“There is no room in the United States for brazen, violent acts of anti-Semitism like this,” McLaughlin said in a statement. “They are an affront to our core principals as a country and an unacceptable threat against law-abiding American citizens.”
The U.S. is not obligated to admit foreigners who commit “reprehensible acts” or let them stay in the country, McLaughlin added.
Gouvea was first arrested by local authorities four days after the Oct. 1 shooting at Temple Beth Zion in Brookline, Massachusetts.
He was charged locally with illegally discharging a pellet gun, disorderly conduct, disturbing the peace, and maliciously vandalizing property.
The law professor was placed on leave by the university following his initial arrest.
Local authorities, however, did not file any hate-related charges after leaders of the synagogue told congregants in an email they did not believe Gouvea’s actions were “not fueled by antisemitism.”
On Oct. 16, DHS revoked Gouvea’s visa.
