A vigil was scheduled for late Wednesday afternoon at Trinity College in Hartford to remember the lives lost in the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas.
The gathering comes as a student at the school is recovering after being shot along with two other men of Palestinian descent in Vermont Saturday night.
Tahseen Ali Ahmad and two other students — all of whom are studying in the U.S. — were shot in Burlington. The man accused of shooting them was arrested Sunday and has pleaded not guilty to three charges of attempted murder.
“This vigil takes on a new meaning for our community as a show of support for Tahseen and his friends,” Joanne Berger-Sweeney, the college president, said in a note to the campus community.
The intent of the vigil is to create a space for students to come together, said Rev. Marcus Halley, the school’s chaplain, in an email sent to the campus before the weekend shooting.
“I know from speaking with many of you — students, faculty, and staff — that it has been difficult to hold the complex range of emotions that witnessing or experiencing this conflict raises,” Halley wrote. “This has been made more difficult by the rising tide of hate, antisemitism, anti-Arab prejudice, and Islamophobia on the internet and social media.”
Threats against Jewish, Muslim and Arab communities have increased in Connecticut and across the U.S. since the Israel-Hamas war began.
At a vigil Monday night at Brown University, a professor read a statement from another student who was shot, Hisham Awartani, in which he expressed appreciation for the community's love and support but said, “I am but one casualty in a much wider conflict.”
A vigil was also held Monday at Pliny Park in Brattleboro, Vermont. The students were shot on a residential street close to the University of Vermont.
As Ali Ahmad was recovering in Vermont, fellow students in Connecticut spoke of his kind demeanor. Mel Keith, a Trinity College student, said on Monday that Ali Ahmad readily offered to help on one occasion.
"He's really nice. I was setting up for a formal with one of my friends. We were really struggling, moving like this big, heavy piece of wood," Keith said. "And he asked us, Hey, do you guys need some help?"
This story will be updated. Connecticut Public Radio’s Patrick Skahill and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
