❗️Vermont jury convicts man who shot three Palestinian students in 2023

A Vermont jury convicted 51-year-old Jason Eaton on three counts of attempted second-degree murder on Monday for shooting three Palestinian college students in Burlington in November 2023, rejecting his insanity defense. Reuters reported that Eaton faces up to life in prison, with sentencing to take place at a later date.

Hisham Awartani, Kinnan Abdalhamid and Tahseen Aliahmad were walking to a family gathering when Eaton opened fire. The three, who had grown up in the occupied West Bank, were speaking Arabic and two were wearing keffiyehs at the time of the shooting. Awartani was left paralyzed from the chest down, while his two friends sustained gunshot wounds.

Eaton's lawyers argued that he was experiencing delusions and was not criminally responsible when he opened fire, claiming he believed he was receiving instructions from US and Israeli intelligence agencies. The jury rejected the defense after a six-day trial, according to Vermont-based outlet VTDigger.