Vermont gunman convicted in attack on Palestinian students — Anadolu Agency

A jury in the US state of Vermont found 51-year-old Jason Eaton guilty of attempted murder in the shooting of three Palestinian students near the University of Vermont campus in Burlington. The shooting occurred in November 2023, reports Anadolu Agency.

Possible sentence

Eaton faces life imprisonment. After the verdict was announced, he was kept in custody pending sentencing, the date of which has not yet been set.

The jury reached its decision after several hours of deliberations following a week-long trial. The three victims testified during the hearings, as did psychiatric experts for the defense and prosecution.

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Defense arguments

Eaton did not dispute that he had shot the students, but pleaded not guilty and argued that he was not criminally responsible because of his mental state. His lawyers cited the defendant's statements that US and Israeli intelligence services had allegedly transmitted an order to shoot via FM radio, and that God had ordered him to protect Jewish neighbors. The jury rejected the insanity arguments.

As a result of the attack, Hisham Awartani was left paralyzed below the waist. His friends Tahseen Ali Ahmad and Kinnan Abdalhamid were also injured. In a joint statement, the students' families described the verdict as a restoration of justice. They also said that Eaton repeatedly used hateful language toward their sons during the trial and consider the attack a hate crime.