“We’re just trying to come to terms with everything,” Kinnan Abdalhamid’s uncle said.
The uncle of a Palestinian college student who was shot on a Vermont street over the weekend said Monday that his nephew left his home in the West Bank to seek safety in the U.S. as he studied.
Now, that uncle says his family feels “betrayed” after Kinnan Abdalhamid was nearly killed as he walked on a street in Burlington, Vermont, with two of his friends on Saturday night.
“Kinnan grew up in the West Bank and we always thought that that could be more of a risk in terms of his safety and sending him here would be, you know, the right decision,” said Radi Tamimi. “We feel somehow betrayed in that decision here and, you know, we’re just trying to come to terms with everything.”
The men were wearing Keffiyeh headdresses and speaking Arabic after leaving an 8-year-old’s birthday party, family said.
Tamimi said he flew to Vermont from California to share his outrage over the ordeal, which had not been labeled a hate crime as of Monday despite pleas from Muslim advocacy groups to label it as such. Vermont Gov. Phil Scott called the attack a “heinous act of violence” in a tweet.
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Josh Fiallo is a Florida-based breaking news reporter at The Daily Beast, where he writes about crime, politics, world news, and all things Sunshine State. His recent coverage includes stories on the victims of Israel’s war with Hamas, a mass shooting in Maine, and a bizarre mayoral election that included spats, Speedos, and the embracing of white nationalists. He is a former reporter for the Tampa Bay Times, where he covered local cops, courts, and was the paper’s primary hurricane reporter.
This article was originally published on The Daily Beast and partially republished here, with permission.
