The Wire - December 17, 2025

//The Wire//2300Z December 17, 2025//
//ROUTINE//
//BLUF: GEOPOLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS CONTINUE IN CARIBBEAN. BROWN UNIVERSITY SHOOTING INVESTIGATION CASTS DOUBT ON THE PROCESS.//

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-International Events-

Caribbean: Diplomatic indicators continue to mount concerning the war with Venezuela entering into the final stages of preparation. The White House announced that a special address to the nation will take place at 9:00pm (local time), the contents of which have not yet been disclosed.

Analyst Comment: So far it's mostly just rumor, however some historical context might help in understanding the larger strategic doctrine in play here. On this day exactly 118 years ago, the Great White Fleet departed port and officially began it's global journey around the world. The Great White Fleet was an initiative set in place by President Teddy Roosevelt which was intended to showcase America's military might on the high seas. This took the form of sending the US Navy's impressive fleet of battleships (which were painted all white, at the time) around the world as part of a very serious game of show and tell. This move, essentially a manifestation of the "big stick" part of Roosevelt's "walk softly" quote, eventually became known as a class of politics called Gunboat Diplomacy. Today, the US still abides by this doctrine (along with many other nations) to some degree, and in practice it usually works out to take the form of parking an aircraft carrier off a nation's coast to urge a people to strongly reconsider their actions. It's unknown as to if this date holds any significance to the White House, but since President Trump's style of command often takes cues from powerful people throughout history, it would make perfect sense for the White House to replicate this "big stick" effort. This has already come to pass and become routine by the striking of fastboats in the Caribbean, so while the world awaits what happens next, the larger strategic goals would be wise to consider. As a reminder, since the seizure of the M/T *SKIPPER* a few days ago, the United States has changed the official position on Venezuela to not just be about drug trafficking, but also oil as well. This might have been obvious from the very start, but it's still a fast pivot to make for any administration, so as events develop over the next few days we'll have to see how this shakes out.

-HomeFront-

Rhode Island: Images of a second person have been released during the Brown University shooting investigation. Providence Police have not provided the context for why this person is being sought, only that they would like to speak to whomever this individual is.

Analyst Comment: The general theory is that this person is not the shooter, but rather an individual who may have walked past the shooter at some point. Authorities have not confirmed this or really made any comment on this at all, so this is just a best guess regarding this new person that is being sought.

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Analyst Comments: In Rhode Island, the development of events following the Brown University shooting has been nothing short of a PR disaster. Normally, it's completely out of the question for any sort of arm-chair quarterbacking to be helpful during a shooting like this. However, in this case, the chance of random anons on the internet finding the killer before the actual police...is higher than zero. As such, more time and resources can be allocated to examine this case, purely in the interest of finding the truth. And right now, it sure looks like a coverup is taking place.

The press conferences in particular have been a source of concern as officials have not been able to answer even basic questions. Chief Perez has been corrected by journalists several times after he mis-stated basic details of the case; for example, yesterday he stated the the footage of the suspect that was released was from inside the Barus and Holley building, when in reality all of the footage has been from exterior cameras. This is important because a major sticking point in this case is the complete lack of interior security camera footage.

In response to the sheer disbelief in the lack of security camera footage of a mass shooting, Brown University released their entire security camera layout plan. From a security perspective, this is highly secret information. Now, criminals know exactly where the gaps in camera coverage are and crimes can now be committed at certain points because of this knowledge. However, this chart is also not complete, and there are at least two cameras that can be seen in Google Street View, which are not depicted on the camera plan. Both of these cameras appear to be directed at the rear of the Prince Engineering Lab, and the rear of the Barus and Holley building....EXACTLY where the suspect is assessed to have exited the building from. This means that the two cameras which may have footage of the killer...don't officially exist.

This of course does not prove that the suspect was actually captured on these cameras, as the distance from the Engineering building was probably too far to actually matter that much even if the suspect was seen in this footage. But it does prove that someone at some point is lying about the cameras that actually exist in this general area. This calls into question other details provided by the University, such as the route that the suspect is alleged to have taken to egress from the area.

Another detail in the case that adds to the incredulity is the fact that the room in which the shooting took place was locked, and could only be accessed by keycard, at least according to eyewitnesses who had class in that building. This has been stated by multiple students and faculty; no one can enter the exterior doors of the building without swiping their ID badge. The exception to this access is during times of heightened foot traffic, such as exam week, so this detail doesn't help much...it's likely that the doors would have been unlocked anyway. As such, this detail might not mean much, but it's still a question that needs to be answered.

All things considered, many eyes are on this topic now. Everyone from members of the student body at Brown, to anons on the internet are examining details and trying to both piece together exactly what happened and also trying to apprehend the suspect(s). For their efforts to get to the truth, members of the public have been berated and insulted by AG Neronha who became visibly upset during a press conference, regarding a question of why Brown University has quietly taken down pages from their website that featured personnel that might be suspects. This afternoon Congressman Sheldon Whitehouse called anyone who questioned the official story of what happened "stupid" and told them to "shut up", urging the censorship of any non-governmental-approved efforts to get to the truth in this case.

Officials have stated that there is no threat to the community, which is not reflected in the basic fact that the killer is still on the loose, and no indication warned of the attack in the first place. The only basis for claiming that there is no further threat to the public, is a scenario in which the intended target is dead, so there's no risk of another mass shooting taking place. Since the shooting, no terror cell or organization has claimed credit for the attack either. As such, the threats continue, and time is running out when it comes to finding the killer.

Analyst: S2A1
Research: https://publish.obsidian.md/s2underground
Disclaimer: No LLMs were used in the writing of this report.
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