Vermont man convicted of attempted murder of three Palestinian students

A jury has convicted Jason Eaton, 51, of attempted murder for the November 2023 shootings of three Palestinian college students near the University of Vermont campus in Burlington. The verdict, reached after a week-long trial, rejected Eaton's insanity defense, which was based on his claims of acting under orders from the CIA and Mossad. Eaton faces a potential sentence of up to life in prison. Hisham Awartani was paralyzed from the waist down in the attack, while his friends Tahseen Aliahmad and Kinnan Abdalhamid also sustained wounds. The families of the three men expressed relief that justice had been rendered, stating that the verdict affirms Eaton's responsibility for his actions. They also characterized Eaton's words during the trial as hateful and indicative of prejudice, asserting that the shooting was a hate crime motivated by anti-Palestinian animus. Eaton's lawyers had argued he was suffering from a delusional, psychotic disorder. The shooting occurred weeks after the start of Israel's military assault on Gaza and prompted calls for a hate crime investigation, though no such charges were filed.