Vermont Jury Convicts Jason Eaton of Attempted Murder in Shooting of Three Palestinian Students

A Vermont jury on Monday convicted Jason Eaton of attempted murder in the November 2023 shooting of three Palestinian college students near the University of Vermont campus in Burlington.

The jury deliberated for several hours after a weeklong trial that included testimony from the three wounded men and psychiatric experts called by both the defense and the prosecution. Eaton, 51, was ordered jailed pending sentencing, which has not yet been scheduled. He faces up to life in prison.

Eaton did not dispute that he was the shooter but had pleaded not guilty. His lawyers argued he should be found not guilty by reason of insanity, citing his claims that U.S. and Israeli intelligence agencies transmitted orders to shoot the men via FM radio and that God commanded him to protect his Jewish neighbors.

The attack left Hisham Awartani paralyzed from the waist down, while his friends Tahseen Aliahmad and Kinnan Abdalhamid were wounded. Eaton stared ahead blankly as the verdict was read. Awartani and Aliahmad, seated in the front row of the courtroom gallery, smiled and hugged those around them.