Man accused of shooting 3 Palestinian students in Vermont appears to have ties to Idaho

A Vermont man who has been accused of attempted murder in the deaths of three young Palestinian men appears to have attended the University of Idaho.

Jason J. Eaton pleaded not guilty Monday to three counts of second-degree attempted murder after the police department in Burlington, Vermont, said he shot the three men, who are all 20, outside an apartment building near the University of Vermont campus, The New York Times reported. The men, two of whom were wearing a traditional Palestinian headdress called a keffiyeh, told relatives they were speaking a mixture of English and Arabic before they were shot, The Times reported.

A student with Eaton’s name and a “similar age” attended the North Idaho university on and off from 1998 through 2020, U of I spokesperson Danae Lenz told the Idaho Statesman by email. Lenz said Eaton didn’t earn a degree.

The Daily Beast reported that the 48-year-old Eaton’s resume stated he attended U of I for a general studies bachelor’s degree and was seven credits short of graduating. Eaton was focusing on natural resources, according to several national media outlets.

If convicted of attempted murder charges, Eaton could face up to life in prison. Authorities are investigating whether the shooting could be classified as a hate crime, news reports said.

“Whether or not it was a hate crime by the law, there is no question it was a hateful act,” Burlington Police Chief Jon Murad said at a Monday news conference, according to The New York Times.

The attack comes at a time when U.S. leaders and advocacy groups have raised the alarm about a rise in Islamophobia and antisemitism amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has said the U.S. faced an “unprecedented” increase in reported anti-Arab and anti-Muslim incidents since Hamas’ surprise attack on Israel in October.

After Hamas carried out the attack on Oct. 7, when they took hundreds captive, Israel retaliated with airstrikes in Gaza that have razed neighborhoods and hit refugee camps and hospitals, according to news reports. The Associated Press reported death counts of at least 11,000 Palestinians in Gaza as of Nov. 10 and 1,200 residents in Israel.

U.S. President Joe Biden earlier this month sent a news release on the spike of reported incidents of Islamophobia and antisemitism at schools and college campuses.

The three men are childhood friends who are students at various northeastern colleges and were visiting Vermont for Thanksgiving, according to The New York Times. Tahseen Ali Ahmad is a Trinity College student; Kinnan Abdalhamid is a Haverford College student; and Hisham Awartani is a Brown University student. Ali Ahmad and Abdalhamid are in stable condition, but doctors believe Awartani likely won’t be able to use his legs again, according to NPR and Time Magazine.

“We believe a full investigation is likely to show our sons were targeted and violently attacked simply for being Palestinian,” the men’s families said in a statement, according to The New York Times.