Salman Rushdie knife attacker found guilty of attempted murder after stabbing brave author in the eye on stage
THE man accused of attempting to kill author Salman Rushdie in New York has been found guilty.
Hadi Matar from New Jersey faces a sentence up to 32 years behind bars for the bloody attack on the British-Indian author that left him with life-changing injuries.
Rushdie was stabbed by the 27-year-old 15 times on stage in front of a shocked audience at a book event at the Chautauqua Institute in New York on August 12, 2022.
The author suffered wounds to his right eye, cheek, back, chest, torso and thigh.
The 77-year-old has lost sight in his right eye, suffered liver damage, and has a paralysed hand due to nerve damage.
Jurors deliberated for less than two hours before finding Matar guilty of attempted murder and assault.
Henry Reese, the founder of the City of Asylum Pittsburgh was going to speak with Rushdie at the event about keeping writers safe when he was caught up in the attack and received a gash to the head.
Reese who also testified said that he believed it was "a prank" but "at some point it became real, and I got up and tried to stop the attacker."
Matar had to both charges against him and rejected a plea deal before the two-week trial.
During the trial, Rushdie was the key witness describing over seven days of testimony the horrific details of the injuries he suffered and the long and painful recovery he has endured.
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He told the court how he thought he was dying when the masked man rushed onto the stage "hitting and slashing him" until bystanders intervened and ultimately saved his life.
A trauma surgeon who testified during the trial told the jury that the author would not have survived had his severe wounds not been treated as quickly as they were.
During closing arguments on Friday morning, District Attorney Jason Schmidt played a video of the attack.
The slowed-down version detailed the horrors of what happened as Matar walked from the crowd onto the stage before running towards Rushdie.
He approached the unsuspecting author from behind as he was seated on a chair and reached around to target Rushdie's torso which the lawyer said proved it was a deliberate act.
The stunned author managed to get up and stumble forwards before the pair collapsed on the floor as onlookers rushed to help Rushdie who was flailing on the floor covered in blood.
Rushdie spent 17 days at a Pennsylvania hospital and over three weeks at a rehabilitation centre in New York before continuing his recovery at home which he detailed in his 2024 memoir Knife.
In it, he blasted Matar as a "dumb clown who got lucky" as he said he had a premonition of the attack after dreaming of being speared by a gladiator days before.
Of the stabbing, he wrote: “Why now, after all these years?”
He described the assailant as "some sort of time traveller, a murderous ghost from the past".
He added: "Don’t make him sound like an angel of doom. He’s just a dumb clown who got lucky."
Speaking from behind bars after the attack, Matar said he was "surprised" Rushdie survived and said: "I don't like him very much."
TERROR CHARGES
The attack came more than three decades after Iran’s leaders issued a fatwa death order against Sir Salman for his novel, The Satanic Verses which is considered blasphemous by some.
A separate federal indictment alleges that Matar from New Jersey, was motivated to attack Rushdie by a 2006 speech in which the leader of the militant group Hezbollah endorsed the 1989 fatwa.
Iran's dictatorship celebrated the horror attack - branding Rushdie an "apostate" and "heretic" as they praised his attacker for "tearing neck of the enemy of God with a knife".
When Matar was handed the verdict he gave no reaction and continued to look down at the table in front of him.
As he was escorted out in handcuffs, the wannabe killer muttered under his breath "Free Palestine" as he frequently did during the trial.
His lawyer said he was disappointed by the verdict but well prepared for it.
The judge scheduled his sentencing for April 23.
A trial on the federal terrorism-related charges will be scheduled in U.S. District Court in Buffalo.
Matar was indicted by a grand jury on three counts including attempting to provide material support to a foreign terror group and providing material support to terrorists.
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The indictment claims he "knowingly did attempt to provide material support and resources" to Hezbollah, a designated foreign terrorist organization, and "had engaged, and was engaging, in terrorism."
He has pleaded not guilty to these charges.
