{
  "id": 9019353,
  "title": "Vermont man found guilty of shooting three Palestinian students in 2023",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/21/vermont-man-found-guilty-of-shooting-three-palestinian-students-in",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-09-21T22:10:53.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Middle East Eye",
    "slug": "middle-east-eye",
    "url": "https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/vermont-man-found-guilty-shooting-three-palestinian-students-2023"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Jason Eaton, a 51-year-old man from Vermont, has been found guilty of shooting three Palestinian students in 2023. The victims, Hisham Awartani, Kinnan Abdel Hamid, and Kenan Abdulhamid, were on their way to a family dinner when Eaton opened fire. The attack left Awartani paralyzed from the chest down. Eaton was charged with three counts of attempted second-degree murder, and the jury rejected his claim that he was suffering from delusions at the time of the incident. Prosecutors stated that Eaton believed voices, which he thought were from CIA agents, instructed him to carry out the attack to protect a Jewish family in his neighborhood. The victims, all wearing keffiyehs, were shot while speaking in Arabic. Eaton's mother, Elizabeth Price, expressed relief at the verdict, saying it affirmed that her son is responsible for his actions. However, the families criticized the decision not to classify the attack as a hate crime, noting that recent hate crime charges in Vermont only apply when a defendant explicitly uses slurs during the crime. The victims' presence in the courtroom, along with other observers wearing keffiyehs, was ordered to be removed by the judge due to concerns about their impact on the jury.",
  "summary": "Jason Eaton, a 51-year-old man from Vermont, has been found guilty of shooting three Palestinian college students in November 2023. The victims, Hisham Awartani, Kinnan Abdel Hamid, and Kenan Abdulhamid, were on their way to a family dinner when they were attacked. Eaton faces up to life in prison after a jury rejected his claim that he was suffering from delusions at the time of the incident, stating that he believed voices, which he thought were from CIA agents, instructed him to carry out the attack to protect a Jewish family in his neighborhood. The victims, who were speaking in Arabic and wearing keffiyehs, were left with varying injuries, with Awartani paralyzed from the chest down. Despite the verdict, the families of the victims criticized the decision not to categorize the attack as a hate crime, as Vermont typically requires explicit slurs during the crime to file such charges.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": "https://urgent.news/ill/9019353.png",
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 4,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "The Times of Israel",
        "title": "Emergency services: 2 killed in road accidents over Yom Kippur, 368 people treated for fast-related issues",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/21/emergency-services-2-killed-in-road-accidents-over-yom-kippur-368",
        "published": "2026-09-21T17:02:10.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Jerusalem Post",
        "title": "MDA reports three people died, 3,322 people were treated during Yom Kippur",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/21/mda-reports-three-people-died-3-322-people-were-treated-during-yom",
        "published": "2026-09-21T17:50:50.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Middle East Eye",
        "title": "Vermont man found guilty of shooting three Palestinian students in 2023",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/21/vermont-man-found-guilty-of-shooting-three-palestinian-students-in-9026237",
        "published": "2026-09-21T22:20:50.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}