(NewsNation) — Police on Sunday arrested a man in connection to the shooting of three Palestinian American men in Burlington, Vermont. All three have survived the shooting but are currently hospitalized.
While police have yet to identify a motive in the shooting, it’s possible racial hatred played a role in the attack.
Brian Levin, founder of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism, noted it can be difficult to determine motivation in attacks like these.
“Right now, we want to make sure we keep our windows open on making sure that every possible piece of evidence that would suggest that this individual is acting in whole or a significant part [based on racial or religious hate] factors into the equation,” he said.
His organization tracks anti-Muslim and anti-Jewish incidents, and he suggested both types of incidents may be at a decade-long high.