Olivia Silvey ’25 and Savannah Brooks ’26
Editor-in-Chief and Managing Editor
Sunday Nov. 26, 1:39 p.m. EST
Three Palestinian college students were shot and injured in Burlington, Vermont on the evening of Saturday, Nov. 25. One of the three has been identified as Trinity College student Tahseen Ali Ahmad ’26, and the other two as Brown University’s Hisham Awartani ’25 and Haverford College’s Kinnan Abdelhamid ’25. According to a statement by the students’ high school in the West Bank, Ali Ahmad was shot in the chest, Awartani in the back and Abdelhamid sustained minor injuries. The three were taken to the University of Vermont Medical Center Saturday evening.
As of 1 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 26, Trinity College has yet to release a statement on the shooting, either publicly online or through a campus-wide email. According to the Brown Daily Herald, a Brown spokesperson stated that the University is “aware of the incident but could not confirm the identity of the victims.” On Sunday morning, Haverford College released a statement on its Instagram page from the President and Dean of the College, the latter of whom will be traveling to Burlington to support Abdelhamid.
Students have organized a fundraiser for the students’ medical needs, according to the Instagram post by the Bi-College Consortium chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine and Bi-College Mutual Aid. Many individuals and organizations, such as the Arab American Anti-Discrimination Committee, are advocating for this incident to be investigated as a hate crime by Vermont law enforcement. The ADC stated Sunday morning that it has reached out to the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to call for a hate crime investigation.
3:12 p.m. EST
Trinity College administration is set to release a statement on the shooting Sunday evening, according to President Joanne Berger-Sweeney and Vice President for Student Success and Enrollment Management Joe DiChristina. DiChristina informed the Tripod in a Sunday afternoon email that “Trinity College Student Life staff have been directly supporting our student who was a victim of the shooting in Vermont” and according to Berger-Sweeney, a member of College staff was sent to Vermont to support the student, who has been identified as Tahseen Ali Ahmad ’26. Berger-Sweeney also responded:
“As Dean DiChristina has mentioned, we are working on a statement, which will be released shortly. It is complicated as the information around this incident is not clear and has been reported differently in different media venues. As you will see, when our message is released, we immediately sent a member of the student life staff to Vermont to support our student. We are all hurting right now, and we need to hold together as a community to get through this unthinkable tragedy in challenging times.”
Additionally, the Tripod would like to issue a correction: Tahseen’s last name is Ali Ahmad and belongs to the Class of 2026.
4:24 p.m EST
In an email to the Trinity community sent Sunday evening, Berger-Sweeney and DiChristina shared that Ali Ahmad “is in stable condition at an area hospital” and is aware of the release of their message. Berger-Sweeney and DiChristina additionally noted that “the police investigation is ongoing” and that “not much more is known” beyond the location of the shooting and the identities of the victims. The email indicated that more will be shared as the situation develops.
Monday, Nov. 27 9:37 a.m. EST
A suspect in the shooting was arrested on Sunday, Nov. 26 by agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, according to AP News. The suspect, Jason J. Eaton, 48, is scheduled to be arraigned Monday, Nov. 27. The FBI along with other federal, state and local agencies are investigating the shooting as a possible hate crime. According to Burlington Police Chief Jon Murad, there is no additional information to suggest a motive for the shooting besides the fact that the three students were speaking Arabic and wearing Palestinian keffiyeh scarves.
[…] This protest is the third major demonstration of the year to advocate for divestment from and condemnation of Israel, with the first happening at last fall’s Light the Long Walk event and the second being held shortly after fall break in response to a Palestinian Trinity student being shot in Vermont. […]