Brown University holds private vigil for Palestinian student shot in Vermont

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) — Jason Eaton, the 48-year-old suspect accused of shooting three Palestinian college students in Vermont this weekend, pleaded not guilty on Monday.

One of those students, 20-year-old Hisham Awartani, is a junior at Brown University in Providence.

The university held a vigil on campus as the shooting is investigated as a possible hate crime.

Three men, all 20, Awartani, Kinnan Abdalhamid, and Tahseen Ali Ahmad, were shot in Burlington, Vermont over the weekend.

“I think that there are double stands at play at how we sometimes respond to violent incidents that impact minorities. You know, when a minority commits a crime, I see that often there’s a rush to categorize that crime as terrorism or something else,” said Edward Ahmed Mitchell, the National Deputy Director for the Council on American Islamic Relations.

Vermont authorities are investigating whether this was a possible hate crime, as two of the men were wearing traditional Palestinian scarves, known as keffiyeh, and were speaking Arabic at the time of the shooting.

“When Muslims or others are victims of crimes, we have to stop and wait and think about it. Common sense often tells us whether or not a crime was a hate crime. Right, if you shoot three men wearing Palestinian clothing, you don’t rob them, you don’t mug them — you just shoot them randomly in the street. You know there are very, very few explanations for why that would happen.” Mitchell continued.

Eaton was arrested on Sunday and pleaded not guilty to three counts of attempted second degree murder Monday morning. He’s being held without bail as the victims remain in the hospital.

“I’m shaken. I’m hollow inside — I’m aching to be with my son. He’s lying immobilized in a bed — but he had very high spirits in the beginning and I think now it’s beginning to sink into him — the extent, the enormity of the challenge that faces him,” said Hisham’s mother, Elizabeth Price.

She said Hisham was shot in the spine during the shooting on Saturday.

“This has basically upended his world, and his plans,” she said.

Following Monday’s vigil, a group of students began chanting for Brown to divest from companies that are profiting off the conflict between Israel and Hamas.

This is the second possible hate-related incident that’s tied into Providence in the past few weeks, as a shooting at a mosque in the city is still being investigated as a possible hate crime.

Both cases are still under investigation, and Eaton is expected back in court in the coming days.