Examining the Hate Crime Potential in the Shooting of Palestinian Students in Vermont

The shooting of three Palestinian college students in Vermont has sparked calls for the suspect to be charged with a hate crime. Jason J. Eaton, who has pleaded not guilty to three counts of attempted second-degree murder, is accused of shooting the students as they walked in front of his apartment building while conversing in Arabic and English. While authorities have yet to determine a motive, families of the victims and civil rights groups have demanded that the attack be investigated as a hate crime, citing the rise in anti-Muslim and anti-Arab bias incidents in the US. However, prosecutors caution that proving a hate crime requires demonstrating beyond a reasonable doubt that racial hatred was a motivating factor. The Justice Department is also investigating whether the incident qualifies as a hate crime.