admin
On Saturday, December 13, 2025, a masked gunman burst into Brown University’s Barus and Holley engineering building and opened fire, leaving two students dead and nine others wounded. Providence police and the FBI have released surveillance images of a dark-clothed suspect and announced a $50,000 reward as the manhunt intensifies for the person who clearly planned this targeted attack. The scene on that Ivy League campus was chaos and heartbreak, and hardworking Americans deserve straight answers about how this could happen on a college campus.
Among the fallen were Ella Cook, a 19-year-old who served as vice president of Brown’s College Republicans, and Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov, an 18-year-old freshman who had dreams of becoming a neurosurgeon. These were bright young lives cut short in the middle of final exam week, and every patriot should feel anger at the loss and resolve to support their families and the injured. The campus is reeling, with vigils and an outpouring of grief replacing the normal end-of-semester bustle.
Law enforcement detained a person overnight but released him after investigators said the evidence no longer pointed to him, a reminder that complex investigations take time even as the public grows anxious. Authorities released several videos showing a masked, stockily built figure walking near campus hours before the shooting, but the footage still fails to show a clear face. The lack of immediate arrest underscores the difficulty police face when critical leads are limited and when buildings lack sufficient surveillance.
Let’s be blunt: many of our institutions have made security an afterthought while prioritizing optics and ideology. Reporting shows the engineering building had few cameras and unsecured exterior doors, basic vulnerabilities that should have been addressed long ago. Colleges that boast about diversity and inclusion but neglect fundamental safety measures are failing their students and betraying parents who pay steep tuition for a secure learning environment.
We should be grateful to the Providence officers and federal agents working around the clock to find the killer, but gratitude doesn’t excuse inadequate planning or soft approaches that hamper public safety. The release of an initially detained person of interest will make people nervous, and that anxiety is justified when criminals remain free because of insufficient evidence or delayed investigative leads. If authorities need more resources, let them have them; if policies need to change, let accountability follow.
Some in the media will use this tragedy as an excuse to rush into gun control arguments, but Americans know the playbook: criminals will always find weapons if they intend harm. Conservatives call for practical solutions that actually protect people — better security infrastructure, more police presence on campus, and swift investigative coordination between local and federal agencies. We should also demand honest discussion about mental health resources and the warning signs that were missed, not reflexive proposals that punish law-abiding citizens.
Brown University canceled remaining exams and urged students to go home, which is the humane immediate response, but it should not be the end of the story. Parents and community members deserve a full review of campus safety policies and a public plan to harden vulnerable points and improve surveillance where appropriate. Colleges cannot be ivory towers immune from accountability when students walk into classrooms and never walk out again.
To my fellow Americans who work hard and raise families, this is our wake-up call: don’t let elites tell you to accept preventable risks as inevitable. Demand safety, demand accountability, and demand that law enforcement be equipped and empowered to protect our communities. We owe that to Ella and Mukhammad Aziz, to the injured students, and to every family that sends a child to campus expecting them to come home.
In the days ahead, we will watch the investigation closely and stand behind the officers who bring the perpetrator to justice. We will also keep the victims’ families in our prayers and our support, and we will keep fighting for commonsense protections that save lives without surrendering the liberties that make this country worth defending. Justice must be swift and certain, and our public institutions must finally make safety the priority it should have always been.
