Defendant rejects insanity plea; hate crime charges not pursued
Defendant rejected insanity defense; prosecutors declined hate crime charges in shooting case.
Event / Security
Vermont College Shooting Trial
Jason Eaton convicted of three counts of attempted second-degree murder in the November 2023 shooting of three Palestinian college students near University of Vermont. Victims survived despite serious injuries. Trial raised questions about media coverage of international conflicts and domestic impact.
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2026-09-22 to 2026-11-03 · UTC publication dates
Coverage begins 22 Sept, 01:26 UTC
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What happened
Defendant rejected insanity defense based on claims of CIA and Mossad transmissions
Jason Eaton's defense team argued he should be found not guilty by reason of insanity, claiming he was suffering from a delusional, psychotic disorder after losing his job at a credit union two weeks before the shooting. The defense argued that Eaton believed he was receiving orders from the CIA and Israeli Mossad intelligence agencies via FM radio transmissions, and that God was commanding him to protect his Jewish neighbors. The jury rejected this insanity defense after hearing testimony from the three wounded men and psychiatric experts from both defense and prosecution.
Three Palestinian students shot and wounded in Vermont attack in November 2023
Three Palestinian college students—Hisham Awartani, Tahseen Aliahmad, and Kinnan Abdalhamid—were shot by Jason Eaton near the University of Vermont campus in Burlington on a walk after Thanksgiving in November 2023. All three survived but sustained serious injuries. Awartani was shot in the chest and paralyzed from the waist down after a bullet injured his spinal cord; he now uses a wheelchair. Aliahmad was struck in the collarbone and Abdalhamid was shot in the right buttock. The three men, all 20 at the time, knew each other from school in the West Bank and were visiting for the Thanksgiving holiday.
No hate crime charges filed in shooting of Palestinian students despite calls for investigation
Although the shooting of three Palestinian college students in November 2023 spawned calls for a hate crime investigation, no hate crime charges were filed against Jason Eaton. Questions persisted about whether anti-Palestinian animus, an altered mental state, or other factors had motivated the shooting. The incident occurred weeks after the start of the Israel-Hamas war.
Three Palestinian college students from Ramallah were visiting during Thanksgiving
Hisham Awartani, Tahseen Aliahmad, and Kinnan Abdalhamid grew up as schoolmates in Ramallah in the West Bank before moving to the United States for college. Awartani was studying at Brown University in Rhode Island, Aliahmad was a student at Trinity College in Connecticut, and Abdalhamid was a student at Haverford College near Philadelphia. They were shot while walking near the University of Vermont campus during a Thanksgiving holiday visit to Awartani's grandmother's house.
Vermont jury convicts man of attempted murder in shooting of three Palestinian college students
A 12-person jury in Vermont found Jason Eaton, 51, guilty on three counts of attempted second-degree murder in the November 2023 shooting of three Palestinian college students: Hisham Awartani, Kinnan Abdalhamid, and Tahseen Aliahmad, all 20 years old at the time. The verdict came after a weeklong trial in which Eaton's defense team mounted an insanity defense, arguing he was delusional and experiencing a psychotic disorder. The jury rejected this defense. Eaton faces up to life in prison and was ordered jailed pending sentencing.
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Jury convicts man of attempted murder in Vermont shooting
Vermont jury convicts man of attempted murder in November 2023 shooting of three Palestinian students.