Press Release: CAIR-Ohio Welcomes Attempted Murder Conviction in Shooting of Three Palestinian Students in Vermont

by Rita Puente in 2025, April, press release, Recent News
CAIR-Ohio Welcomes Attempted Murder Conviction in Shooting of Three Palestinian Students in Vermont
(COLUMBUS, OHIO, 9/22/2026) – The Council on American-Islamic Relations, Ohio (CAIR-Ohio, Central & Southern Region), part of the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, welcomed this week’s jury decision to convict a man of attempted murder for shooting three Palestinian college students, two of whom were wearing keffiyehs, nearly three years ago.
 
Jason Eaton, 51, faces up to life in prison in the November 2023 attack near the University of Vermont campus in Burlington, which left Hisham Awartani paralyzed from the waist down and his friends, Tahseen Aliahmad and Kinnan Abdalhamid, wounded. The jury rejected an insanity defense rooted in Eaton’s claims he was acting on orders from the CIA and Mossad and attempting to protect his Jewish neighbors.
 
SEE: Jury convicts Vermont man of attempted murder in shooting of 3 Palestinian students
 
In a statement, CAIR Deputy Executive Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell said:
 
“We welcome the jury’s decision to convict Jason Eaton of attempted murder charges and reject the insanity defense. It is clear that Mr. Eaton targeted these Palestinian college students because they were visibly Palestinian.
 
“Fanning the flames of hate can very easily lead to violence, which is exactly what we have witnessed over the past three years. The pattern of violence that began with the murder of 6-year-old Wadea in Chicago by a man who hated Muslims and the shooting of these three Palestinian college students has not subsided in the three years since then. Political leaders must reject the bigotry of those elected officials who still fan the flames of anti-Palestinian racism and anti-Muslim hate today.
 
“We pray for the full recovery of the victims of this shooting and stand in solidarity with them and their families. We urge all Americans to join together in repudiation of anti-Muslim hate and anti-Palestinian racism.”
 
CAIR previously welcomed the arrest of the perpetrator of the shooting.
 
SEE: CAIR Welcomes Arrest of Suspect in Shooting of Three Palestinian Students in Vermont, Calls on Public Officials to Condemn and Reject Anti-Palestinian Racism

CAIR also offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the perpetrator.
 
SEE: CAIR Offers $10K Reward for Info on Shooting Targeting 3 Palestinians in Vermont

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CONTACT: CAIR-Ohio Executive Director Khalid Turaani, 614-888-1111, KTuraani@cair.com; CAIR-Ohio Director of Community and Government Engagement Abdul Samad Amjad, 614-401-2920, aamjad@cair.com; CAIR-Ohio Regional Coordinator Tala Mohammad Ali, tali@cair.com
 
CAIR-Ohio, Central & Southern Region is the Ohio chapter of the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, working to protect civil liberties, build cross-community coalitions, and advocate for policies that uphold the dignity of Ohio’s Muslim, immigrant, and refugee communities.
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