Vermont shooting updates: Palestinian victims’ families share message about suspect Jason Eaton
Jason Eaton is accused of shooting three Palestinian students in Vermont in a possible hate crime
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The families of three Palestinian students injured in a shooting near the University of Vermont have sent a message condemning certain media coverage of the suspect, Jason Eaton.
The three 20-year-olds – Hisham Awartani, Kinnan Abdalhamid and Tahseen Ahmad – were ambushed by a gunman as they walked to a family Thanksgiving in Burlington on Saturday night. The attack is being investigated as a hate crime.
Mr Eaton, 48, was arrested the next day near the scene of the attack. He pleaded not guilty to three counts of attempted murder.
In the wake of his arrest, Mr Eaton’s mother alleged that he suffered from depression. In a statement on Tuesday, the families of the victims denounced media reports deflecting blame for the shooting on the suspect’s alleged mental health struggles.
“We do not accept what this wrongfully implies about people who struggle with their mental health, nor do we accept it as justification or context for this heinous, hate-driven crime,” they wrote.
Also on Tuesday, NBC News unearthed police reports in which Mr Eaton’s ex-girlfriend accused him of sending her “harassing” messages of a sexual nature in 2019.
Families of students release joint statement calling for hate crime charges
The families of the students released a joint statement through the Institute for Middle East Understanding calling on authorities to continue investigating the incident with the aim of bringing hate crime charges against Jason Eaton, the suspect in the shooting.
The families referred to the attempted murder charges brought against the man “an important and welcomed first step towards bringing justice and accountability for our sons”.
The statement continued, “We welcome the decision by law enforcement and the Vermont Attorney General’s office to continue the investigation and pursuit of hate crimes charges.
“We believe a full investigation is likely to show our sons were targeted and violently attacked simply for being Palestinian. Full justice and accountability is important, and needed to ensure that this type of brutal and violent attack does not happen again.”
The statement went on to describe the men as friends from childhood. Each of the men are uniquely brilliant, kind, and talented, the statement said.
“We were so excited for them to attend prestigious universities in the United States, and believed that they would be safe here,” the families said. “Instead, they were viciously targeted in a brutal attack that plunged us as parents into our worst nightmares.”
New details revealed about suspect Jason Eaton’s resume
New details are emerging about the suspect accused of shooting three Palestinian students near the University of Vermont campus in an attack that is being probed as a possible hate crime.
Jason Eaton’s resume, seen by The Daily Beast, reveals that he has worked as a former Boy Scouts scoutmaster, a Harvard research assistant and a former ski instructor.
The 48-year-old studied general studies at the University of Idaho in 2001, but fell short of graduating.
According to his resume, he also worked as a research assistant at Harvard Forest in Massachusetts in 1999.
After that, he reportedly taught science to 5th and 6th graders at the McCall Outdoor Science School in Idaho.
He has also ran survival courses in the past and acted as an assistant scoutmaster for a Boy Scouts of America unit in New York, his resume claims.
WATCH: FBI investigating Vermont shooting as possible hate crime
One of the students sustained a spinal injury in shooting, uncle says
During a press conference on Monday afternoon, Rich Price, a Burlington resident and uncle of Hisham Awartani, said that the student sustained a spinal injury in the shooting and faces a long road to recovery.
All of the men are in the intensive care unit at the University of Vermont Medical Center. Tahseen Ahmad is in a lot of pain, Mr Price added, while Kinnan Abdalhamid’s injuries are difficult. Still, Mr Price said that Mr Abdalhamid is expected to make a full and speedy recovery.
“I want to say that these three young men are incredible,” Mr Price, who was hosting the students for Thanksgiving, said. “They have their lives in front of them. They are committed to building incredible lives. They each go to great schools.”
The men have visited the family for Thanksgiving in the last few years, Mr Price said, adding that he “never imagined that this sort of thing could happen”.
The incident occured after the men attended a birthday party for Mr Price’s 8-year-old twin boys. When they arrived back at the uncle’s home, they decided to go for a walk. That’s when police believe Mr Eaton encountered the men.
Vermont shooting suspect’s chilling words during arrest revealed
The suspect in the Vermont shooting that wounded three students of Palestinian descent knew police officers were looking for him, officials told a press conference.
The Burlington Police Department is working with federal agents to investigate the 25 November shooting of Hisham Awartani, Tahseen Ali and Kenan Abdulhamid, three 20-year-old college students walking to a Thanksgiving celebration in Burlington, Vermont. The suspected gunman, 48-year-old Jason Eaton, is being held without bail on three charges of attempted murder. Mr Eaton pleaded not guilty to all three counts.
At a Monday press conference, Burlington Police Chief Jon Murad said officers identified Mr Eaton while canvasing at an apartment complex.
Agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives knocked on an apartment door on Sunday. Mr Eaton emerged with his hands displayed and told officers he had been waiting, per Mr Murad.
Read the story here:
Vermont shooting suspect’s chilling words during arrest revealed
Suspected gunman Jason Eaton told officers, ‘I’ve been waiting for you’ when they knocked on his apartment door.
Palestinian student’s family said they thought he’d be safer in US than West Bank
The family of one of the Palestinian students shot in a possible hate crime in Vermont has spoken out to say they believed he would be safer in the US than in the West Bank, where relatives live.
Hisham Awartani’s mother Elizabeth Price told NPR that the family had decided he should stay in the US for the holidays rather than return to Ramallah, due to the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas.
“My husband didn’t want Hisham to come back for Christmas,” she said.
“He thought our son would be safer than in Palestine.”
On Saturday, Mr Awartani – a student at Brown University – was shot by suspected gunman Jason Eaton.
Jason Eaton describes himself as a ‘radical citizen’ online
The suspected gunman’s online history has come to light since the shooting, revealing that he describes himself as a “radical citizen”.
Jason Eaton is charged with three counts of attempted murder over Saturday’s shooting.
On an X account believed to belong to the 48-year-old, he calls himself a “radical citizen...pa-trolling demockracy and crapitalism for oathcreepers,” NBC News reported.
A YouTube account said to belong to the suspect also contains videos pushing theories about Dr Antony Fauci including one that reads: “Expose Fauci.”
Other videos, NBC News reported, are about using brain crystals for “psychic powers” and long Covid.
WATCH: Suspect pleads not guilty in shooting of Palestinian college students
Injured student speaks out about the attack
Hisham Awartani, a 20-year-old Palestinian student at Brown University, released a statement on the attack against him and his two friends through Brown University’s Students for Justice in Palestine.
“It’s important to recognize that this is part of the larger story,” Mr Awartani wrote in a statement posted on the organization’s Instagram. “This hideous crime did not happen in a vacuum. As much as I appreciate and love every single one of you here today, I am but one casualty in this much wider conflict.”
Mr Awartani grew up in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. His mother, Elizabeth Price, told NPR her husband didn’t want their son coming home to Ramallah for Christmas because he believed Mr Awartani would be safer in the US than in Palestine.
“Had I 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,” Mr Awartani wrote in the statement.
“I understand that the pain is so much more real and immediate because many of you know me, but any attack like this is horrific, be it here or in Palestine,” Mr Awartani added.
The gunman struck Mr Awartani in the spine during the 25 November attack. His mother told CNN doctors fear Mr Awartani may never walk again because of his injuries.
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