As investigators continue to hunt for the gunman behind the December 13 shooting at Brown University, online speculation has surged around a first-year Palestinian refugee student after his profile was removed from the university’s website. Authorities, however, have made it clear that no suspect has been publicly identified so far.
The shooting left two Brown University students dead and nine others injured inside a classroom, triggering panic across Providence, Rhode Island. More than 72 hours later, police say the attacker remains unidentified and have urged the public to come forward with any information that could help the investigation.
On Tuesday, FBI official Kash Patel released a video timeline showing the movements of a “person of interest” in the case. In all the clips shared by investigators, the suspect’s face is either covered or turned away. Officials have only described him as stocky and around 5 feet 8 inches tall, offering no further identifying details.
How Mustapha Kharbouch entered the spotlight
As the manhunt entered its fourth day, attention on social media began to focus on Mustapha Kharbouch. Users online speculated about his possible involvement after noticing that his student profile had been removed from Brown University’s website.
CNN-News18 has not independently verified claims about the deletion of the profile, and authorities have not linked Kharbouch to the shooting in any way. Law enforcement agencies have also not named him or anyone else as a suspect or person of interest.
Kharbouch was identified online as a first-year student studying International Affairs and Anthropology, with a focus on the Middle East. According to screenshots of the now unavailable profile, he was described as a third-generation Palestinian refugee born and raised in Lebanon. The profile also mentioned that he had received a scholarship to attend United World College Maastricht and had been involved in community building and social change initiatives.
Speculation intensified as some users on X alleged that Brown University was “scrubbing” references to Kharbouch and claimed that social media accounts linked to him had also disappeared.
“Why has Brown University suddenly erased every mention of Mustapha Kharbouch (a Palestinian activist and first-year student) from its official website, right as the FBI intensifies its manhunt for the shooter who killed two and injured nine in the campus attack?” one user wrote. Another claimed that Kharbouch had fled the university and was missing.
Right-wing activist Laura Loomer also weighed in, claiming she had found a YouTube account under the same name that featured Islamic videos. “Why won’t police say what the shooter yelled before he opened fire? "ALLAHU AKBAR" is what witnesses heard. Why is Brown deleting this Palestinian from their website? Is he a suspect?” she said.
Brown University responds
Following the online backlash, Brown University issued a statement warning against speculation and online targeting.
“It’s important to make clear that targeting individuals could do irrevocable harm. Accusations, speculation, and conspiracies we’re seeing on social media and in some news reports are irresponsible, harmful, and in some cases dangerous for the safety of individuals in our community,” the university said.
Brown added that removing online information can sometimes be a protective step. “It is not unusual as a safety measure to take steps to protect an individual’s safety when this kind of activity happens, including in regard to their online presence. As law enforcement officials stated clearly on Tuesday afternoon, if this individual’s name had any relevance to the current investigation, they would be actively looking for this individual and providing information publicly.”
Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha also cautioned against drawing conclusions based on online activity. Speaking to CNN, he said there could be “lots of reasons” why a page may be taken down and warned that randomly naming individuals was a “dangerous road to go down.”
“It’s easy to jump from someone saying words that were spoken to what those words are to a particular name that reflects a motive targeting a particular person,” Neronha said. “If that name meant anything to this investigation, we would be out looking for that person, and we would let you know we were looking for that person.”
As the investigation continues, authorities have urged the public to rely on official updates and avoid spreading unverified claims that could put innocent people at risk.
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