James J. Eaton pleaded not guilty to three attempted murder charges Monday over a Saturday night shooting that left three Palestinian students in Burlington, Vermont seriously injured.

The U.S. Department of Justice and Vermont authorities have noted a surge in threats directed against Jewish, Muslim and Arab communities across the U.S. since the violence between Israel and Hamas has escalated. Both agencies are investigating whether the shooting will be considered a hate crime.

Hisham Awartani, Kinnan Abdalhamid and Tahseen Ali Ahmed were walking to Awartani’s grandmother’s house for a Thanksgiving dinner Saturday night when a white man with a handgun fired on them. Court documents show two of the three men wore keffiyehs, a black and white scarf emblematic of Palestinian identity and resistance, and that they conversed in a mix of Arabic and English when the gunman confronted the 20-year-olds.

Burlington Police Chief Jon Murad and State Attorney Sarah George said Monday that authorities do not yet have evidence to support a hate crime charge under Vermont law, but that there are “no doubts” it was a “hateful act.” Families of the victims are hoping those charges are included as the investigation continues.

“We believe a full investigation is likely to show our sons were targeted and violently attacked simply for being Palestinian,” the victims’ families said in a joint statement.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has documented an increase in anti-Arab and anti-Muslim bias incidents, reporting incidents nearly tripling in October compared to last year’s monthly average. Pro-Palestine supporters have faced harassment and even celebrities supportive of a ceasefire have been dropped from projects, to say nothing of the rise in Islamophobic harassment and hate incidents across the country.

“People are watching a genocide unfold and hearing really grave and awful news of people being killed, family members blown up or dying of disease and starvation. And, they’re not even allowed to come together or talk about what is happening because then they could face consequences like expulsion or demotion,” human rights lawyer and legal and advocacy director at Project South Azadeh Shahshahani said. “Now, we see even wearing a keffiyeh is a potential death sentence.”

Shahshahani said tragedies like these are fueled by the hateful rhetoric used by world leaders and echoed in the media throughout Israel’s seven-week bombardment of Gaza.

Several outlets have been criticized for their coverage of the conflict. New York Times journalist and Pulitzer Prize winner Mona Chalabi found the outlet consistently reported on Israeli casualties more frequently than Palestinians, even as the Palestinian death toll surpassed the Israeli death toll.

Joseph Czuba, who stabbed 6 year-old Wadea Al-Fayoume to death in October, tuned in to right-wing radio in the months leading up to the event, as conservative radio hosts compared Palestinians to animals and accused them of being “addicted to violence.”

“Dehumanization is the key word here,” Shahshahani said. “It’s no surprise that you see this rise in crime targeting Arab Americans or Palestinian Americans. These things must be seen within the larger system of what the U.S. government is doing to continue carrying out a genocide.”

Experts, including a top UN official and Holocaust scholars, say Israel is commiting genocide against the Palestinians with help from the U.S., which has overseen a flow of money and weapons into Israel since conflict began on Oct. 7. This includes a recent move to ease restrictions on Israel’s access to the U.S. weapons stockpile.

President Joe Biden condemned the shooting in a statement from the White House.

“We join Americans across the country in praying for their full recovery, and we send our deepest condolences to their families. While we are waiting for more facts, we know this: There is absolutely no place for violence or hate in America. Period. No person should worry about being shot at while going about their daily lives,” the statement said.

The shooting occurred on day three of a temporary ceasefire in Gaza. Groups across the country continue to press Biden and local representatives to issue a permanent ceasefire.

At Monday’s arraignment, the judge ordered Eaton be held without bond. Hours later, one of the victims was released from the hospital CNN reports. Officials say the two others remain hospitalized, one with a long-term spinal injury.