Vermont man convicted in shooting of 3 Palestinian students

A jury in the US state of Vermont has convicted Jason Eaton, 51, of attempted murder for shooting three Palestinian college students near the University of Vermont campus in Burlington in November 2023, The Guardian reported Monday.

Eaton faces up to life in prison. The attack left Hisham Awartani paralyzed from the waist down and wounded his friends Tahseen Aliahmad and Kinnan Abdalhamid.

The jury reached its verdict after several hours of deliberation following a week-long trial that included testimony from the three victims and psychiatric experts for both the defense and prosecution. Eaton, who did not dispute that he was the shooter, had pleaded not guilty and argued that he was not criminally responsible because of his mental state.

His lawyers pointed to Eaton's claims that US and Israeli intelligence agencies had transmitted the orders to shoot the men via FM radio and that God had commanded him to protect his Jewish neighbors. The jury rejected the insanity defense.

Eaton was ordered held in jail pending sentencing, which has not yet been scheduled. He stared ahead as the verdict was read. Awartani and Aliahmad, seated in the front row, smiled and hugged those around them.

"Justice has been rendered for Hisham, Kinnan and Tahseen. After three years of sorrow, loss and struggle, our families finally feel relief," the families said in a joint statement.

They said the verdict could not erase the trauma but "affirms something fundamental: Jason Eaton is responsible for what he did."

The families also said that Eaton repeatedly used "hateful" language about their sons during the trial, arguing that his own words showed why they were targeted.

"This was a hate crime. We have said so from the beginning," they said.

The families thanked supporters in Burlington and Vermont while also highlighting the broader suffering of Palestinians.

"While our children fought to heal from being shot in Burlington, they watched Palestinian children lose their lives, their homes, their land, their families," they said.

"Hisham, Kinnan and Tahseen have spent three years rebuilding their bodies and their lives after a hateful act almost killed them. We are profoundly relieved."