Shooting of three Palestinian students in Vermont sparks calls for hate crime probe

Hisham Awartani, Tahseen Ahmed, and Kinnan Abdalhamid were confronted and shot in an incident near the campus, according to Burlington police. Reports suggest the victims, wearing keffiyeh scarves and conversing in Arabic, were targeted by the assailant. A suspect, identified as Jason J Eaton, aged 48, has been apprehended, as confirmed by CBS News, the BBC's media associate in the US.

Jon Mura, the local police chief, confirmed that while two victims are in stable condition, one sustained severe injuries. All three students have ties to educational institutions such as Ramallah Friends School, a Quaker-operated nonprofit school in Ramallah. Abdalhamid was named as a student of Haverford College in Pennsylvania, while Awartani attends Brown University, and Ahmed is enrolled at Trinity College in Connecticut.

The families expressed shock, narrating how the trio had been attending a child's birthday party and, within minutes of leaving, became victims of this violence. The uncle of one of the victims, Rich Price spoke to his shock and distress over the unexpected turn of events that took place in their neighborhood.


According to a joint statement released by the victims families and the pro-Palestinian non-profit Middle East Understanding, they have pressed for authorities to conduct a thorough investigations into the incident. They have also urged law enforcement to classify and treat the incident as a hate crime, with the aim to bring the shooter to justice. The Council on American-Islamic Relations had offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to the assailant's arrest.

This attack resonates amidst a backdrop of rising Islamophobic and antisemitic incidents in the US since the Israel-Hamas conflict erupted. Bernie Sanders, Vermont senator, denounced the violence, emphasizing the imperative to combat hate. He stated, "It is shocking and deeply upsetting that three young Palestinians were shot here in Burlington, Vermont. Hate has no place here, or anywhere."

Ambassador Husam Zomlot, head of the Palestinian Mission to the UK, decried the hate crimes against Palestinians and called for their cessation, echoing the widespread sentiment against such violent acts.