The Vermont Superior Court has declared Jason J. Eaton, the man who opened fire on three Palestinian college students, “competent” to stand trial. On April 13, 2026, this bureaucratic box was checked. But let’s be clear: a ruling on a shooter’s mental fitness is not justice. It is, at best, the first agonizing crawl through a system that seems to prioritize procedure over profound pain.
Hisham Awartani, Kinnan Abdalhamid, and Tahseen Ali Ahmad were simply visiting family in Burlington in November 2023. They were walking, talking, wearing keffiyehs – symbols of their heritage, not a provocation.
Then, Eaton, a man fueled by something dark and hateful, shot them. He was arrested the very next day, held without bail, but for the victims, the nightmare was just beginning.
The System’s Glacial Pace vs. Life-Altering Trauma
A court finding of “competence” means Eaton supposedly grasps the charges against him. He can, in theory, assist his own defense. This is the legal system’s definition of forward motion, a slow grind of due process.
But what about the victims’ progress? What about the lives shattered by a hail of bullets?
Hisham Awartani remains paralyzed, a spinal injury having stolen his future, his independence, his very ability to walk. His medical bills, a crushing weight, will stretch into the millions over a lifetime.
Meanwhile, our state has already poured hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars into Eaton’s evaluations, his housing, his pre-trial holding. A chilling imbalance, wouldn’t you say?
We spare no expense for the accused, but the cost of shattered lives falls squarely on the victims.
Abed Ayoub, the attorney representing the victims’ families, articulated this stark reality with unwavering clarity:
“While this finding is a necessary legal step, the families’ focus remains on the long-term recovery of Hisham, Kinnan, and Tahseen, and ensuring that those responsible for this heinous act are held fully accountable. We urge the court to proceed with the trial expeditiously.”
“Expeditiously” is a word the Vermont legal system, for all its progressive posturing, seems to struggle with. For the victims and their families, every passing day is a reminder of the attack and the slow march toward accountability.
Charges, Cynicism, and Vermont’s Disconnect
Eaton faces a litany of grave charges: three counts of attempted second-degree murder, three counts of aggravated assault, and three counts of committing a hate crime. Yes, for those who conveniently forget or deliberately mislead, hate crime charges are indeed on the books and being pursued. Yet, the public discourse surrounding this tragedy is a toxic cesspool of misinformation and outright cruelty.
Online, a chorus of cynics screams “injustice” over a perceived “lack of hate crime charges,” willfully ignoring the facts. Others, even more repugnantly, cackle and dismiss the entire tragedy as a “victimhood grift.”
These are college kids from prestigious institutions like Brown, Trinity, and Haverford. Two are U.S. citizens.
They were targeted for their identity, their ethnicity, their visible connection to a heritage some despise. To call their suffering a “grift” is not just insensitive; it’s a moral failure.
The narrative spun by some—that these young men were “importing Gaza drama” or “provoking” with their keffiyehs—is not merely a deflection; it’s a disgusting, dangerous lie. It ignores the facts of the shooting, the intent of the shooter, and the agonizing pain inflicted. It’s always easier, isn’t it, to invent a convenient conspiracy than to confront the ugly truth of homegrown hate?
The Red Marker: Burlington’s Convenient Blindness
This “competency” ruling is nothing more than a bureaucratic checkbox, a procedural formality. It does little to address the deep, festering wound this shooting left on Burlington’s conscience.
It does nothing to heal Hisham Awartani. It doesn’t repay a single dollar of the millions in medical debt that now haunt these families.
Burlington fancies itself a progressive bastion, a safe haven of tolerance and understanding. Yet, when three young men are shot for simply wearing keffiyehs, the system’s first, most immediate move is to assess the shooter’s mental fitness.
Where is the swift, decisive action to confront the underlying hate? Where is the urgent focus on protecting those targeted, on supporting the victims?
It’s a stark, uncomfortable question: Does our system care more about the shooter’s rights than the victims’ recovery?
The financial burden on these victims is not just immense; it is a silent, damning indictment of the state’s sluggish legal process.
We spend lavishly to ensure a shooter gets every conceivable due process, every evaluation, every legal safeguard. But what about the victims? What about the incalculable cost of their shattered lives, their stolen futures, their enduring trauma?
The real scandal isn’t whether Jason J. Eaton understands the legal proceedings against him. It’s whether Vermont, and particularly Burlington, truly understands the virulent hate that festers within its seemingly serene borders.
This trial will expose more than Eaton’s mind; it will expose the very soul of Vermont, forcing us to confront the uncomfortable truths we often prefer to ignore. Will we finally see it for what it is?
Photo: Photo by MattBritt00 on Openverse (flickr) (https://www.flickr.com/photos/20456447@N03/53973990232)
Source: Google News
