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Providence Mayor: ‘Hero’ Tipster that Led Officials to Brown Shooting Suspect Should Get Full $50K

Providence Mayor Brett Smiley urged the FBI to award John, a homeless tipster, the full $50,000 reward for providing the key lead that identified the Brown University shooter.

  • Mayor Brett Smiley urged the FBI to award the full $50,000 reward to John, praising him as heroic in a letter dated Monday, December 16, 2025.
  • According to police, John, witness, posted on Reddit that he spotted the suspect in a car with Florida license plates while sheltering in Brown's Barus and Holley engineering building.
  • Investigators linked Claudio Manuel Neves Valente to the Brown shootings and MIT professor Nuno Loureiro's murder, finding the suspect dead in Salem, New Hampshire; nine others remain hospitalized.
  • The FBI said it will not confirm tipster identities or reward payments, while Brett Smiley praised John as `no less than a hero` and noted his upcoming Youth Peace And Justice Foundation National Award for Heroism.
  • Framing the plea, Smiley highlighted John's bravery and requested the full $50,000 reward be issued to him, praising the Providence community's response.
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Bias Distribution

  • 53% of the sources are Center
53% Center

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Telemundo 20 broke the news in on Friday, December 19, 2025.
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