Hadi Matar

On August 12, 2022, a man stabbed novelist Salman Rushdie multiple times as he was about to give a public lecture at the Chautauqua Institution in Chautauqua, New York, United States. A 24-year-old suspect, Hadi Matar, was arrested at the scene, and was charged the following day with assault and attempted murder. Rushdie was gravely wounded and hospitalized. Interviewer Henry Reese was also injured by the attacker.

Rushdie, an Indian-born British-American, was threatened with death in 1989, a year after the publication of his novel ''The Satanic Verses'', when the Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a ''fatwa'' calling for his assassination and set a bounty of $3 million for his death. For years, Rushdie lived in hiding and took strict security measures which became more relaxed over time.

The government of Iran denied having foreknowledge of the stabbing, although state-controlled agencies of the Iranian media celebrated it. U.S. law enforcement is investigating whether the assailant was in contact with other extremists.

Background

Rushdie had been living under threat of assassination since 1989. ''The Satanic Verses'', his fourth novel, garnered critical acclaim as well as threats from hardliner Shia Muslims upon its 1988 publication. Ayatollah Khomeini, the Supreme Leader of Iran at the time, issued a 1989 ''fatwa'' calling for Rushdie's assassination, forcing Rushdie into hiding for several years. Hitoshi Igarashi, who translated ''The Satanic Verses'' in Japanese, was stabbed to death in July 1991. Ten days before, the book's Italian translator Ettore Capriolo was stabbed multiple times at his home in Milan.

The Execution of Imam Khomeini's Order set a US$3million bounty on Rushdie, with the 15 Khordad Foundation offering to pay it. The bounty against Rushdie has never been lifted, though in 1998, the government of Iran looked to distance itself from the fatwa and pledged to cease the urge that it be carried out. In 2017, however, the Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, reaffirmed that the edict remained in effect, saying, "The decree is as Imam Khomeini issued."

In the years prior to the stabbing, Rushdie traveled without a security detail, and the Chautauqua festival where he was speaking was known for its "accessible" and "relaxed environment". Two weeks before he was stabbed, Rushdie told German current affairs magazine ''Stern'' that "nowadays my life is very normal again", and that social media would have made his life "more dangerous, infinitely more dangerous" had it existed in the 1980s. According to the co-founder of City of Asylum, Henry Reese (who was scheduled to interview Rushdie), the novelist had promised him just before they went onstage together that he would tour the United States to create new opportunities for the asylum and protection of persecuted artists.

Attack

On August 12, at around 10:47 a.m. EDT, an attacker rushed the stage of Chautauqua Institution, where Rushdie was about to give a talk about the United States as a safe haven for exiled writers. The assailant stabbed him ten times, straining to continue the attack even as several people held him back. One of these people was the co-founder of City of Asylum, Henry Reese, onstage at the time, about to begin interviewing Rushdie. During the assault, Reese sustained a shallow knife wound and deep bruising in the vicinity of his right eye. A doctor who was present for the lecture immediately tended to Rushdie.

A New York state trooper and a sheriff's deputy who were present at the event arrested the assailant at the scene.

Injuries and recovery

Rushdie suffered four wounds to the stomach area of his abdomen, three wounds to the right side of the front part of his neck, one wound to his right eye, one wound to his chest and one wound to his right thigh. He was flown by helicopter to UPMC Hamot, a tertiary-level hospital in Erie, Pennsylvania.

The novelist's literary agent, Andrew Wylie, said on the evening of August 12 that Rushdie had undergone surgery, was on a ventilator, and was unable to speak. Wylie said that Rushdie faced the prospect of losing one of his eyes, in addition to the possibility of liver damage and multiple severed nerves in one arm. On August 13, Wylie said that Rushdie had been taken off the ventilator and was able to speak and joke.

On August 14, Wylie said that Rushdie was on the "road to recovery", adding, "it will be long; the injuries are severe, but his condition is headed in the right direction." Rushdie's son Zafar said, "Though his life-changing injuries are severe, his usual feisty and defiant sense of humour remains intact".

On October 23, Wylie reported that Rushdie had lost sight in one eye and the use of one hand.

Investigation

The investigation into Rushdie's stabbing is being led by the New York State Police, with assistance from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Chautauqua County's district attorney.

The suspect, Hadi Matar, was charged in state court with attempted second-degree murder and second-degree assault and remanded without bail. Matar pleaded not guilty.

Suspect

Matar, a 24-year-old man from Fairview, New Jersey

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