A Harvard Law professor has been placed on administrative leave after being charged with firing a pellet rifle near a Boston synagogue.
Carlos Portugal Gouvea, who is a visiting professor, was taken into custody on Wednesday after allegedly firing two pellets outside Temple Beth Zion synagogue in Brookline.
According to the Harvard Crimson, he is facing charges in Brookline District Court for illegally discharging a pellet gun, disorderly conduct, disturbing the peace, and property damage.
The incident prompted a response from more than a dozen police officers as Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish year, was beginning Wednesday evening.
Two private security guards reportedly tried to restrain Gouvea before police arrived, resulting in a “brief physical struggle.”
A Visiting Professor at Harvard Law School
Shot a pellet gun outside a synagogue on Yom Kippur
But don’t fret!
He said he was just hunting rats (he shot a car window)
Back in Brazil he runs a think take that focuses on ESG and Social Justice
The corruption runs so deep pic.twitter.com/G4u1UG3Z2T
— Shaun Maguire (@shaunmmaguire) October 5, 2025
Gouvea told officers he had been “hunting rats” and later entered a not guilty plea to all charges on Thursday, the outlet said.
He was released on personal recognizance pending a court appearance scheduled for early November..
Jeff Neal, spokesperson for the faculty, confirmed that “has been placed on administrative leave as the school seeks to learn more about this matter.”
However, he has not yet been subject to formal disciplinary action.
In an email sent Sunday morning to Temple Beth Zion members, synagogue president Larry Kraus and executive director Benjamin Maron said the temple’s leadership “have no reason to believe this was an antisemitic event.”
Brookline police informed synagogue leaders that Gouvea “was unaware that he lived next to, and was shooting his BB gun next to, a synagogue or that it was a religious holiday,” the message said.
“It was potentially dangerous to use a BB gun in such a populated spot,” the leaders added, “but it does not appear to have been fueled by antisemitism.”
According to his professional biography, Gouvea serves as an associate professor at the University of São Paulo Law School and heads a Brazilian research institute focused on social and environmental justice.
He earned his doctorate from Harvard Law School in 2008.