Rhode Island
Brown University shooting: Who is RI Attorney General Peter Neronha?
Vigil in Lippitt Park for victims of mass shooting at Brown University
See the Dec. 14, 2025 vigil in Lippitt Park following the mass shooting at Brown University.
Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha, along with Providence Mayor Brett Smiley and others, announced Dec. 14 that they were releasing the person of interest originally detained for the mass shooting at Brown University.
Neronha said that tips “led to us detaining a person of interest,” but that the evidence “now points in a different direction.”
“We have a murderer out there, frankly,” Neronha said.
As attorney general, Neronha and his office will play a large role in the investigation over the shooting. Here’s what to know about the top legal official in Rhode Island.
Who is Peter Neronha?
Neronha is Rhode Island’s 74th attorney general. He was sworn in on Nov. 6, 2018.
As attorney general, Neronha leads an office that “prosecutes criminal cases; represents state agencies, departments and commissions in litigation; initiates legal action when necessary to protect the interests of Rhode Islanders; and oversees the Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation,” according to his office.
Previously, Neronha was the United States Attorney for the District of Rhode Island from 2009 to 2017. He was appointed by former President Barack Obama.
He began his career in public service as a Rhode Island Special Assistant Attorney General in 1996. He was later appointed Assisted Attorney General, and then joined United States Attorney’s Office as an Assistant United States Attorney in 2002.
Neronha is a fourth generation native of Jamestown, Rhode Island. He has undergraduate and law degrees from Boston College.
Neronha’s relationship to Trump
During President Donald Trump’s second term, Neronha has sued the president and his administration over 40 times.
Some of the lawsuits that he has co-led include ones over withheld education funds and the dismantling of federal agencies like Health and Human Services and those that support public libraries and museums.
Neronha often criticizes the president in his lawsuits. In a press release announcing a lawsuit filed against the Trump administration Nov. 25 for reducing grant funds for projects that could help people experiencing homelessness, Neronha said that the administration continues to “punch down” on vulnerable Americans.
“The President and his Administration don’t care about making life easier or better for Americans; they only care about political capitulation, consolidating power, and further enriching the wealthy,” he said.
In a press conference earlier this year, Neronha said that he sues the Trump administration when the president has broken the law, when Americans have been harmed and when they have the legal standing to bring an action against the administration.
While it’s unclear if Trump has ever commented on Neronha specifically, he has often attacked judges who have tried to block his policies.
Rhode Island
Rhode Island 18-year-old arrested in beach stabbing as hundreds of teens packed area
A Rhode Island teenager who was out on bail for a gun charge was charged Friday in connection with the stabbing of three people as hundreds of teens crowded the beach
Willy Medina, 18, was identified as a suspect in the stabbing that broke out at Narragansett Town Beach just after 3 p.m. Tuesday, according to the Narragansett Police Department.
Medina is accused of slashing three beachgoers as the rowdy crowd went into a frenzy, according to video obtained by WJAR.
The three victims were hospitalized with minor stab wounds.
The Rhode Island State Police Violent Fugitive Task Force arrested Medina in his hometown of Pawtucket and charged him on one count of felony assault, Chief Kyle Rekas said.
Medina was arraigned Friday in the 4th District Court and held on a bail violator. He was also ordered to have no contact with minors, WPRI reported.
Officials did not release a motive in the stabbing, as the investigation is ongoing.
Medina was out on bail at the time for a shooting in Pawtucket back in April.
Police allege Medina and another 18-year-old were part of a larger crowd when a disturbance broke out and a gunshot was fired off, striking a parked car, according to WJAR.
Medina was charged with carrying a pistol without a license, firing in a compact area, vandalism and disorderly conduct.
In the aftermath of Tuesday’s stabbings, Narragansett Police arrested two men in the public beach’s parking lot on charges of simple assault, disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and obstruction of justice.
Hours before the stabbing, 20 miles away in Middletown, RI, approximately 1,200 teens overran Second Beach on the Sachuest Bay, the Middletown police said.
Several people between the ages of 17 and 19 were arrested and charged with disorderly conduct and obstructing an officer.
Ronan Pinkham, an 18-year-old from Massachusetts, was arrested after he allegedly struck a Newport police officer with his car in the parking lot as he attempted to flee.
Pinkman admitted to driving under the influence before he was arrested and charged with felony assault and DUI.
Illegal teen takeovers have plagued popular shopping centers and beaches in several states in the weeks leading up to Memorial Day Weekend.
Several hundred teens and young adults illegally took over a popular boardwalk in Long Branch, New Jersey, on Tuesday, leading to several arrests of out-of-towners.
Police in Delaware arrested four Delaware State University students for leading a booze-fueled takeover of Rehoboth Beach that prompted a heavy police presence in the popular Atlantic town.
Xander Nicholl, 19, Angelin Clauvil, 21, Eric Barnett, 21, and 22-year-old Keyon Scott are all facing charges relating to facilitating a riot, as well as conspiracy in the second degree.
Rhode Island
Remains identified as World War II pilot from Rhode Island
The Defense of POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced on Friday that a U.S. Army Air Force pilot from Rhode Island killed in World War II was located.
The agency said 2nd Lt. Robert J. Barrat, 20, of Woonsocket, was accounted for on April 30.
According to the organization, Barrat piloted a B-17G “Flying Fortress” bomber in 1945.
On Feb. 9,1945, witnesses reported seeing his aircraft collide with another aircraft during a bombing mission to Lutzkendorf, Germany.
The aircraft was then seen hitting the ground, killing eight of the 9 crew members onboard.
After the end of World War II, the American Graves Registrations Command began working to recover missing American personnel in Europe.
In 1947, members recovered eight sets of remains from marked burials in the Eisenberg Civilian Cemetery.
The remains were transferred to the Central Processing Point at Neuville-en-Condroz, Belgium for analysis.
Members identified two sets of remains. The remaining six were identified as the collective remains of Barrat and five of his crew members.
The remains were then buried at the Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery in St. Louis, Missouri.
In Oct. 1991, a German citizen reported finding the crash site and recovered debris from the aircraft, including two inscribed rings.
The debris was turned over to the U.S. Army Memorial Affairs Activity Europe in Landstuhl, Germany and then to the Central Identification Laboratory in Hawaii.
In 2024, the remains were re-examined for further analysis.
Scientists said they used anthropological analysis and mitochondrial DNA analysis to identify Barrat’s remains.
According to the University of Rhode Island, he attended Rhode Island State College (RISC) in Sept. 1941 with the class of 1945.
Barrat left college during his second year and enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Force in Nov. 1942.
He was posthumously cited for Gallantry in Action and Bravery and awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.
Barrat will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Alexandria, Virginia, on May 27.
Rhode Island
17-year-old sent to hospital after pedestrian crash in Woonsocket
WOONSOCKET, R.I. (WJAR) — The Woonsocket Police Department said a 17-year-old was sent to the hospital after a pedestrian crash on Park Avenue.
The department said the juvenile’s injuries were non-life-threatening.
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The vehicle involved in the crash fled the scene but was later located and brought to the department for processing, and an individual was being detained.
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