Would-be assassin of author Salman Rushdie after his arrest
Salman Rushdie, 75, who has lived for decades under the threat of death by Islamist radicals including Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini was stabbed 15 times in a vicious attack on Friday. Rushdie has had a fatwah on his head for decades for authoring The Satanic Verses in 1988, about Islam. Rushdie was stabbed on stage at an appearance in Chautauqua, New York Friday morning. The attacker was detained at the scene.
There is video from Chautauqua of Rushdie being carried to a helicopter following the attack.
Traslado del escritor Salman Rushdie, apuñalado de gravedad en el cuello, a un hospital del estado de Nueva York. pic.twitter.com/5loQppFNjO
— Blondie💄 (@blondiemixz) August 12, 2022
On Saturday the would-be assassin pleaded not guilty in New York court.
Would-be killer Hadi Matar is Shia Muslim — like the late Ayatollah Khomeini.
ABC News reported:
Law enforcement officials briefed on the investigation into Salman Rushdie’s attack told ABC News that “a preliminary investigation into the suspected perpetrator’s probable social media presence indicates a likely adherence or sympathy towards Shi’a extremism and sympathies to the Iranian regime/Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.”
Author Salman Rushdie was attacked while giving a lecture at an education center, the Chautauqua Institution in Chautauqua, in southwestern New York, Friday morning. Rushdie was stabbed at least once in the neck and abdomen, after a man ran up on stage and attacked him and his interviewer. The interviewer, Henry Reese, 73, suffered a minor head injury during the attack, police said. He was treated for a facial injury at a nearby hospital and has since been released, police said.
Rushdie’s agent told ABC News on Friday that he will likely lose an eye, the nerves in his arm were severed and his liver was stabbed and damaged.
Law enforcement have identified Rushdie’s attacker as 24-year-old Hadi Matar of New Jersey. Matar is currently in New York State Police custody. Matar is charged with felony attempted second-degree murder and second-degree assault.
Photos & information have emerged about the Muslim extremist suspect accused of repeatedly stabbing author Salman Rushdie (he was accused of blasphemy) in western New York. Suspect Hadi Matar, 24, of Fairview, NJ, had multiple posts in support of Iran & Shia Islam on Facebook pic.twitter.com/b1cGxm00Qc
— Andy Ngô 🏳️🌈 (@MrAndyNgo) August 12, 2022