Family and community members speak on shooting that injured three young Palestinian men
Burlington, Vt – The Burlington police department held a news conference on Monday detailing new updates in the ongoing investigation into Saturday nights shooting, that landed three young Palestinian college students in the I.C.U.
uncles of two of the victims were in attendance — they say they believe in due process — but the families fear is that their loved ones were targeted, and that the shooting was motivated by hate.
“I’m blown away by their resilience, by their good humor in the face of these difficult times,” says Rich Price, long time Burlingtonian and uncle of Hisham Awartani. It was his family’s house where the three were staying for the Thanksgiving holiday.
“An incident like this is shocking anywhere, but it’s particularly shocking in a community like ours,” says Price.
The shooting comes amid a rise on gun violence incidents in the city.
Radi Tamimi, uncle of victim Kinnan Abdelhamid, says his nephews family sent him to school in the U.S. because they thought it would be safer than where he grew up in the West Bank.
Tamimi says this past weekends events feel almost like a betrayal.
“It’s shocking, even more so than if he was in Philadelphia visiting, for example, near Haverford. But here, in Vermont, a small storybook town...we’re just shocked,” says Tamimi.
Burlington mayor Miro Weinberger – who spoke to the president earlier in the day – offered an apology, and vowed to help.
“I am so sorry that this terrible event happened to your nephews here in Burlington, and please know that the city is going to continue to do all we can to support your loved ones during this time,” says Weinberger.
The case comes amid heightened tensions. On Sunday night, the group Vermonters for Justice in Palestine held a vigil on Church street for the victims.
Member Wafic Faour says the event came together after only two hours worth of planning, and had a turn out of hundreds of people.
“That day, it was different for me because every day for the last 54 days I’ve been calling my family 10-12 times a day. That say, my family heard about the shootings here in Burlington and started calling me from all over the world,” says Faour.
