Vermont Jury Convicts Man for Attempted Murder of Palestinian Students

A jury in Vermont has convicted Jason Eaton, a 51-year-old American man, of attempting to murder three Palestinian students in November 2023, approximately six weeks after the Hamas terror attack on October 7th. The incident occurred in Burlington, Vermont, on the evening of November 25, 2023, when Eaton opened fire on Hisham Awartani, Tahseen Ali Ahmad, and Kinan Abdul Hamid as they walked down the street. Awartani was paralyzed from the waist down, Ahmad was shot in the chest, and Hamid was shot in the buttocks while fleeing.

During his trial, Eaton pleaded not guilty and his defense team argued he was insane, claiming he received orders from Israeli intelligence agencies Mossad and the CIA through FM radio broadcasts and that God commanded him to protect his Jewish neighbors. He alleged that messages from a local NPR station initially encouraged him, but later became dark, urging him to "go out and shoot someone." The insanity defense was rejected by the jury, which found him guilty of three counts of second-degree attempted murder. He faces a potential life sentence, with a minimum of 20 years in prison for each count.

The victims, who were all in their 20s and had grown up in the West Bank before coming to the U.S. for university, were wearing Keffiyehs at the time of the attack. While the victims' families believe the motive was clearly racist, Eaton was not charged with a hate crime. The prosecution argued that Eaton, while narcissistic and lacking empathy, was fully aware of the criminal nature of his actions.

Following the verdict, Elizabeth Price, Awartani's mother, stated, "The verdict cannot turn back time or erase the trauma our families still carry, but it affirms something fundamental: Jason Eaton is responsible for his actions." Eaton's defense attorneys had previously stated he had a history of mental health issues, including ADHD, PTSD, bipolar disorder, depression, and borderline personality disorder, which culminated in a psychotic episode after he lost his job.

The article also notes a rise in hostility against Muslims in the U.S. since the October 7th attacks and the subsequent war in Gaza, citing the stabbing death of a 6-year-old Palestinian-American boy in Illinois and a shooting at a mosque in San Diego.