‘I’m not going to apologize’: DOJ releases transcript of Brown University shooter’s confession video

PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND: On Tuesday, January 6, the Department of Justice released information about Claudio Neves-Valente, the shooter responsible for the deaths of two Brown University students and MIT professor Nuno FG Loureiro.

According to authorities, the initial phase of the attack took place on December 13, 2025, at Brown University’s engineering building. Two days later, the shooter fatally shot the MIT professor.

Brown University shooter confession and claims

Valente, 48, a former Brown University student and Portuguese national, had meticulously planned the attack for at least six semesters, according to short videos recovered by the FBI, Justice Department officials said.

Valente was found dead in a storage facility in New Hampshire following the shootings. Federal investigators discovered an electronic device at the site that contained a series of short videos recorded by Valente after the attacks, which the Justice Department described as a confession in Portuguese.

The DOJ said the videos did not provide a clear motive for why he targeted Brown University or the MIT professor. According to an English-translated transcript released by the DOJ, Valente stated that he did not believe he owed anyone an apology.

In the recorded videos, he also voiced grievances about injuring his eye during the shootings. “I’m not going to apologize because during my lifetime no one sincerely apologized to me,” he said.

He directly rejected unfounded claims circulated by conservative influencer Laura Loomer following the attack, which alleged that the Brown University shooter had spoken in Arabic or said something resembling “Allahu akbar” when he entered the auditorium.

Valente stated that he does not speak Arabic and had no intention of making any symbolic or ideological declaration. He explained that if he uttered anything at all, it was likely an exclamation such as “Oh no!” or a similar remark, expressing his frustration when he believed the auditorium was empty upon his arrival.

Although students were actually hiding beneath desks, Valente said he assumed they had already fled through an emergency exit.

Brown University shooting and aftermath

Valente maintained that he was not suffering from any mental illness and emphasized that he had no desire for notoriety, stating that the video was not intended as a manifesto.

He explained that his “only objective was to leave more or less” on his "own terms" and to make sure he "wouldn’t be the one who ended up suffering the most from all this."

He went on to say, "No, that cannot happen. So if you don’t like it, tough luck," reiterating his stance. Valente also described his execution of the murders as "a little incompetent. But at least something was done."

He and Loureiro were enrolled in the same academic program at a university in Portugal from 1995 to 2000. According to Loureiro’s MIT faculty profile, he completed his physics degree at Instituto Superior Tecnico, Portugal’s leading engineering institution, in 2000.

That same year, Valente was dismissed from a position at the Lisbon university, based on an archived termination notice issued in February 2000 by the school’s president at the time. 

In the recording, he also stated that he had maintained the storage unit where his body was later discovered for approximately three years.