Top Democrat decries rise of Islamophobia after 3 Palestinians shot in Vermont

US House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is encouraging people to “unequivocally denounce the startling rise of anti-Arab hate and Islamophobia in America,” after three young men of Palestinian descent who were in Burlington, Vermont, for a Thanksgiving holiday gathering were shot and injured Sunday. Authorities say the attack may have been a hate crime.

“No one should ever be targeted for their ethnicity or religious affiliation in our country,” the New York Democrat says in a statement posted on X. “We will not let hatred win.”

Sen. Bernie Sanders, the Vermont Independent, also denounces the attack.

“It is shocking and deeply upsetting that three young Palestinians were shot here in Burlington, VT. Hate has no place here, or anywhere. I look forward to a full investigation,” Sanders says in a statement. “My thoughts are with them and their families.”

Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger says that any indication that the shooting could have been motivated by hate is “chilling.”

Burlington Police Chief Jon Murad says police are searching for the shooter, a white man thought to have confronted the trio.

“Without speaking, he discharged at least four rounds from the pistol and is believed to have fled,” Murad said in a news release. “All three victims were struck, two in their torsos and one in the lower extremities.”

Praying for these three young Palestinian men who were shot last night in Vermont on their way to a family dinner (wearing their Keffiyehs).

While the motives are still unclear, we know the climate we’re in. Pray for Hisham, Tahseen, and Kenan as they now fight for their lives. pic.twitter.com/J1b0xZZKjy

— Dr. Omar Suleiman (@omarsuleiman) November 26, 2023

Murad said there is no additional information to suggest the suspect’s motive.

Before Murad issued his news release, the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee released a statement Sunday saying that the victims were Palestinian American college students and that there is “reason to believe this shooting occurred because the victims are Arab.”