Jury convicts Vermont man of attempted murder in shooting of 3 Palestinian students

On Monday, a Vermont jury found Jason Eaton guilty of attempted murder for shooting three Palestinian college students who were walking near his residence. The incident, which occurred in November 2023, resulted in Hisham Awartani sustaining severe injuries that left him paralyzed from the waist down, while Tahseen Aliahmad and Kinnan Abdalhamid were also wounded.

Eaton, 51, faces a possible life sentence for the attack that took place near the University of Vermont campus in Burlington. The jury deliberated for several hours following a week-long trial, during which testimony was presented from the three injured individuals and psychiatric experts from both the defense and prosecution. Eaton was directed to jail while awaiting sentencing, which has yet to be determined.

As the verdict was announced, Eaton remained silent, staring ahead. Awartani and Aliahmad, seated in the front row of the courtroom gallery, displayed smiles and embraced others nearby. Eaton had maintained his innocence throughout the trial, though he did not deny being the individual who fired the shots. His legal team argued for a finding of not guilty by reason of insanity, citing claims that he believed he was following orders from the CIA and Mossad, and that God had instructed him to safeguard his Jewish neighbors.