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Jason J. Eaton, 48, is suspected of shooting three Palestinian college students in Burlington, Vermont, and pleaded not guilty at his arraignment hearing. The case is drawing national attention amid increasing reports of hate crimes, and authorities are investigating if the shooting was a hate crime. The three students, all 20 years old, were walking when they were confronted by the suspect who shot each of them without speaking.
Suspect Pleads Not Guilty in Vermont Shooting of Palestinian Students
The suspect in the shooting of three Palestinian college students in Burlington, Vermont, Jason J. Eaton, 48, pleaded not guilty at an arraignment hearing. Eaton was arrested near the scene of the attack, with the judge subsequently ordering him to be held without bond.
The shooting has attracted national attention against a backdrop of increasing reports of hate crimes following the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war. Authorities found evidence at Eaton’s residence that supported the belief that he executed the shooting.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Vermont is investigating if the shooting was a hate crime. The victims’ families and several civil rights groups have been advocating for a thorough examination of this angle due to a reported surge in anti-Muslim and anti-Arab bias incidents in the U.S. since the conflict between Israel and Hamas began.
The victims, all aged 20, were walking along the street when a man with a handgun shot each of them before fleeing, according to the police department. Two of the students were stable over the weekend, while the third suffered more serious injuries. The students were Hisham Awartani, a student at Brown University in Rhode Island; Kinnan Abdalhamid, a student at Haverford College in Pennsylvania; and Tahseen Ahmad, a student at Trinity College in Connecticut.
Abed Ayoub, attorney for the victims’ families, believes the students were targeted partly because two of them were wearing keffiyehs – traditional Palestinian scarves. In this context, Ayoub described it as a targeted shooting and crime.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Muslim civil rights group, stated that this incident occurred amid growing anxieties among Muslim and Arab communities in the U.S. who report fearing for their safety due to the war in the Middle East.
The group is offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction in the shooting. CAIR documented a more than 200% increase in reports of anti-Arab and anti-Muslim bias incidents after Hamas attacked Israel.
As the investigation unfolds, police are conducting witness interviews, returning to canvas the area, and analyzing ballistic evidence from the scene. The FBI is also assisting with resources including victim services and computer and cell phone analysis.
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