The man who shot three Palestinian students over the weekend in Vermont has been arrested and identified as 48-year-old Jason J. Eaton.
The Daily Mail reveals that he describes himself as a ‘radical’ libertarian on the ‘ADHD spectrum’.
Eaton’s mom, who just spent Thanksgiving with him and said he’s ‘very religious’ said there were zero signs that he was capable of this kind of violence.
Here’s more:
The man accused of shooting three Palestinian students in Vermont on Saturday in a suspected hate crime has been identified as ‘very religious’, ‘radical citizen’ Jason James Eaton.
Eaton appeared before a judge at a virtual court hearing today where he pleaded not guilty to three counts of attempted second degree murder.
He is suspected of shooting Hisham Awartani, Kinnan Abdel Hamid and Tahseen Ahmed who were visiting Awartani’s grandmother’s house when they were shot on Saturday afternoon.
The students were speaking in Arabic and English and two of them were wearing keffiyehs, leading police to believe it was a hate-motivated attack.
Eaton is a 48-year-old former financial adviser and part-time farmer who describes himself as a ‘radical’ libertarian on the ‘ADHD spectrum’.
His social media pages are largely private, but hint at a disillusionment towards America.
Eaton’s shocked mother Mary Reed told The Daily Beast he has had his ‘struggles’ in the past but that nothing indicated he was capable of such violence.
She said he is a ‘very religious’ person, but had seemed normal when she spent Thanksgiving with him on Thursday, two days before the shooting.
‘He, like all of us, thinks the world is a mess. He is a spiritual person,’ she said.
‘Jason has had a lot of struggles in his life but he is such a kind and loving person.
‘I am just shocked by the whole thing,’ she said.
His mother said he previously worked as an assistant in an office, but has bounced around different jobs.
They spent Thanksgiving together on Thursday and it was one of the best ‘in years’, she said.
As far as the three men he shot, two are in stable condition and one is in much more serious condition:
Two of the men were in stable condition and the other suffered ‘much more serious injuries,’ Burlington Police Chief Jon Murad said in a statement Sunday.
The three, all age 20, were walking during a visit to the home of one of the victim’s relatives when they were confronted.
‘Without speaking, he discharged at least four rounds from the pistol and is believed to have fled,’ Murad said.
‘All three victims were struck, two in their torsos and one in the lower extremities.’
I’m sure they’ll throw the book at this man and they absolutely should. He’s lucky they aren’t dead because the charges would be much worse. Regardless, he should spend a very long time in prison for this.