Authorities face calls to declare a hate crime in Vermont shooting of 3 men of Palestinian descent

BURLINTON, Vt. — The vigil for three students of Palestinian descent who were shot in Vermont this weekend led to calls for authorities to recognize the violence as a hate crime and for unity between the Jewish and Arab communities.

Jason J. Eaton, 48, was arrested and held without bail on three counts of attempted murder. A not guilty plea was entered on his behalf on Monday.

The US Department of Justice, along with Vermont authorities, is still investigating whether Saturday’s gunfire on a Burlington street was a hate crime, amid an increase in threats against Jewish, Muslim and Arab communities in the US since the beginning of the war between Israel and Hamas. said Merrick Garland. “There is understandable fear in communities across the country,” he said.

A vigil was held Monday evening at Brown University in Rhode Island, where one of the victims, Hisham Awartani, is a student. Participants shouted at school President Christina Paxson as she addressed the crowd, demanding that Brown divest from investments that support Israel, according to media reports.

Robert Leikend, New England regional director of the American Jewish Committee, called for unity and finding common ground between the Jewish and Arab communities, saying in a statement Monday night that “hate must not breed more hate.”

He said a vigil after Eaton’s arrest “included anti-Israel and anti-Semitic statements from some participants.” He did not name the location.

“The anger is understandable. “That’s not finger pointing,” he said.

Brown’s vigil was closed to the media. NBC News reported that in a statement read by a professor, Awartani said that as much as he appreciates the love and support of the community, “I am just one victim in a much broader conflict.”

The statement read: “If I had been shot in the West Bank, where I grew up, the medical services that saved my life here would likely have been withheld by the Israeli army. The soldier who shot me would go home and never to be released again.” convicted.”

Awartani, Kinnan Abdalhamid and Tahseen Ali Ahmad, all 20 years old, were spending their Thanksgiving holiday in Burlington and were walking while visiting one of the victims’ relatives when they were confronted by a white man with a gun, according to reports the police. The victims spoke in a mix of English and Arabic and two of them were also wearing black and white Palestinian keffiyeh scarves when they were shot, police chief Jon Murad said.

Abdalhamid told police he ran away, jumped a fence and hid behind a house. He eventually knocked on another door and begged the woman who answered to call 911. At that point, he sat down, felt pain and saw blood, according to an affidavit.

Two of the students were struck in the torso, while one was hit in the lower body, Murad said. All three were treated at the University of Vermont Medical Center, and one faces a long recovery due to a spinal cord injury, a family member said.

According to media reports, one of the students has been released from the hospital.

“Since Saturday evening I have been with them almost constantly. I have listened to them talk to each other and try to process the events, and I have been impressed by their resilience and good spirits during these difficult times,” said Rich Price, Awartani’s uncle.

The three have been friends since first grade at Ramallah Friends School, a private school in the West Bank, and are all “remarkable, distinguished students,” said Rania Ma’ayeh, head of school.

Awartani studies mathematics and archeology at Brown; Abdalhamid is a medical student at Haverford College in Pennsylvania; and Ali Ahmad is studying math and IT at Trinity College in Connecticut, Ma’ayeh said. Awartani and Abdalhamid are U.S. citizens, while Ali Ahmad is studying on a student visa, Ma’ayeh said.

Abdalhamid’s uncle Radi Tamimi said at a news conference on Monday that his cousin grew up in the West Bank and that “we always thought that could pose a greater risk to his safety and that it would be the right decision to send him here.

“We feel somehow betrayed by this decision and we are just trying to come to terms with everything,” he said.

Eaton moved to Burlington from Syracuse, New York, this summer and legally purchased the gun used in the shooting, Murad told reporters. Federal agents found the gun in Eaton’s apartment on Sunday, according to a police statement. Eaton came to the door, held his hands, palms up, and told officers he had been waiting for them.

Eaton’s mother, Mary Reed, told the Daily Beast that Eaton, who had worked various jobs as a farmer, ski instructor and researcher, struggled with mental health issues, including depression. But she said he was in “such a good mood” when she saw him on Thanksgiving.

According to Syracuse police, Eaton’s name appeared in 37 police reports from 2007 to 2021, but never as a suspect. The cases ranged from domestic violence to theft, and Eaton was listed as a complainant or victim in 21 reports, said Lt. Matthew Malinowski, the department’s public information officer.

Sarah George, the prosecutor, said law enforcement officials do not yet have evidence to support a hate crime charge, which under Vermont law must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. But she said: “I want to be clear that there is no doubt that this was a hateful act.”

Demonstrations have been widespread and tensions have escalated in the US as the death toll rises in the war between Israel and Hamas. A fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas was expected to last for two more days last Monday, when another eleven hostages were handed over to the Red Cross in Gaza under what was originally a four-day truce.

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Associated Press writers Holly Ramer and Kathy McCormack in Concord, New Hampshire; Lindsay Whitehurst in Washington; and David Sharp in Portland, Maine, contributed to this report.