Vermont Man Convicted of Attempted Murder in Shooting of 3 Palestinian Students

A Vermont jury convicts a man of attempted murder after he shot three Palestinian students near the University of Vermont campus in 2023.

Editorial Desk

September 21, 2026 One Min Read

POLICY WIRE — Burlington, Vermont — A Vermont jury has convicted Jason Eaton of attempted murder following the November 2023 shooting of three Palestinian college students near the University of Vermont campus. Eaton, 51, was found guilty after a weeklong trial that centered on his claims of acting under orders from the CIA and Mossad.

Eaton faced up to life in prison for the attack, which left Hisham Awartani paralyzed from the waist down and his friends Tahseen Aliahmad and Kinnan Abdalhamid wounded. The jury rejected his insanity defense, which claimed he was following directives from intelligence agencies and divine commands.

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The case sparked calls for a hate crime investigation after the Israel-Hamas war began earlier that year. However, no hate crime charges were filed as authorities examined whether anti-Palestinian bias, a mental health crisis, or other factors led Eaton to open fire on the students, who were all 20 at the time.

Reporting by Policy-Wire (PW)

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