Vermont man on trial for shooting three Palestinian students, claims CIA put him on “overwatch duty”

A Vermont man accused of shooting three Palestinian college students is now on trial. His defense is centered on an extraordinary claim that the CIA and Mossad ordered him to attack them.

Eaton allegedly believed the messages were being transmitted through an FM radio broadcast. His attorney told jurors that Eaton became convinced he had been recruited for “overwatch duty” to protect a Jewish family living across the street from his home.

Per AP, Eaton faces attempted murder charges in connection with the shooting of Hisham Awartani, Tahseen Aliahmad and Kinnan Abdalhamid. All three men survived the attack, though Awartani suffered a spinal cord injury that left him paralyzed from the waist down.

Eaton’s defense hinges on what he believed he was hearing

Defense attorney Joshua O’Hara told jurors that Eaton had developed a delusional psychotic disorder after losing his job at a credit union. O’Hara said Eaton initially interpreted radio messages as encouraging and validating, before believing they had become instructions to commit violence.

The defense says Eaton eventually became convinced that the CIA and Mossad were directing him to protect Jewish neighbors. O’Hara described the alleged belief as a delusion and argued that Eaton didn’t understand the wrongfulness of his actions at the time.

“These were delusions,” O’Hara told jurors. “He believed in the moment that he was doing something that was right.” He also argued that Eaton believed he had been commanded by a government agency or God.

Prosecutors are challenging that explanation and plan to present psychiatric evidence of their own. Prosecutor Sally Adams told jurors that a state psychiatrist concluded Eaton did not have a mental disease or defect and that the evidence will show he intended to kill the three men.

The prosecution also pointed to physical evidence recovered after the shooting. Authorities found three shotguns in Eaton’s apartment, while crime lab testing concluded that a Ruger .380-caliber handgun recovered in the case was the weapon used against the students.

The three victims have also described the shooting from their perspectives. Awartani testified that Eaton approached them without saying anything before pulling out a handgun and firing, while Aliahmad and Abdalhamid were also wounded in the attack.

The students had been friends since attending school together in Ramallah before coming to the United States for college.