With the world in chaos, Vermont isn’t any different. 

On November 25th, Thanksgiving day, a day filled with gratitude and joy, three college students were shot. In Burlington, Vermont, three Palestinian college students were shot on their way to enjoy a Thanksgiving meal. According to one of the students, they were walking, conversing among themselves when a white male approached them, not speaking, and shot them. 

The following Saturday, the Burlington police force arrested Jason J. Eaton, a 48-year-old male reported to live near the crime scene. While searching Eaton’s apartment, federal agents found a shotgun hidden within the home, official analysis of the gun has yet to be announced to the public. Eaton was reported to live close to the crime scene and while the official motive of the crime is still unknown, many suspect the race of the students plays a key role. Hisham Awartani, Kihnan Abdalhamid, and Tahseen Ahmed were the three students shot in Thursday’s incident and all are Palestinian. With tensions high overseas, so much of the conflict has spread into the United States. The United States has seen a rise in prejudice against people of Jewish, Arabian, and Muslim descent and communities. The young men, in police reports, were rumored to have been speaking Arabic as they walked on November 25th, the night of the incident. It was also reported that two of these men had been wearing traditional Keffiyehs, traditional Arabian headdresses. Although the students attended prestigious universities, two of the students are residents, and one of them is a legal citizen. Despite this knowledge, without any confirmation from Eaton, police and federal officials are unsure of the motives of this crime.

Even more baffling than the motive of this crime, is Eaton himself. Since being arrested, Eaton has not spoken, only speaking through his lawyers. In court, Jason Eaton pleaded not guilty, through his attorney and only spoke to confirm his identity, for all three accounts of attempted murder. Since the trial, Eaton was condemned to be held without bail. His silence has been taken with great suspicion as it has been linked to the crime itself. In the hospital, after regaining consciousness, one of the victims claimed that when they were attacked Eaton did not say a single word. All reports say that a white man approached them with a handgun, unspeaking, and committed the crime. 

This crime has uprooted the Vermont area and caused fear and shock.