Salman Rushdie stabbed: Details emerge about Salman Rushdie’s attacker

A famous novelist stabbed brutally on stage at a literary event is hanging on to life and could lose an eye as his attacker’s dark past emerges.

The US man arrested for stabbing world-renowned author Salman Rushdie reportedly had sympathies towards the Iranian government that had called for the author’s death.

Hadi Matar, 24, was arrested after allegedly stabbing Rushdie repeatedly at a New York writers conference on Friday (US time), the New York State police said.

The 75-year-old suffered stab wounds to the neck and abdomen and was rushed into surgery after the alleged attack.

The author is now on a ventilator and unable to speak, according to his agent.

Speaking to the New York Post, law enforcement sources revealed that preliminary investigations suggest that Matar made social media posts in support of Iran and its Revolutionary Guard, and in support of Shi’a extremism.

However, state police said that Matar’s motives were unclear and he is believed he acted alone.

“We don’t have any indication of a motive at this time,” Major Eugene J. Staniszewski told reporters.

Matar awaited arraignment on Friday (local time) but no charges were immediately announced, the New York Post reported.

His public lawyer Nathaniel Barone declined to comment when contacted by the Associated Press.

A view from the round of the house of Salman Rushdie attack suspect 24-year-old Hadi Matar, as FBI members and local police forces are being carried out search, in Fairview, New Jersey. Picture: Islam Dogru/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Rushdie – who has a $US3 million ($4.6 million) bounty on his head – was about to deliver a speech at the CHQ 2022 event when he was attacked on stage on Friday, according to police and witnesses.

He was rushed to hospital with horrific injuries.

Providing an update on his condition following the attack, Rushdie’s agent, Andrew Wylie, revealed he had been put on a ventilator and would “likely” lose an eye.

“The news is not good,” he said on Friday evening (US time).

“Salman will likely lose one eye; the nerves in his arm were severed; and his liver was stabbed and damaged.”

An Associated Press reporter witnessed a man storm the stage at the Chautauqua Institution and begin punching or stabbing Rushdie as he was being introduced, the outlet reported.

The author was taken or fell to the floor, and the man was restrained.

“Just witnessed the horrific assassination attempt on #SalmanRushdie’s life. He was stabbed multiple times before attacker was subdued by security,” author Carl Levan tweeted shortly after the stabbing. “Some intrepid members of audience went on stage. What courage will be expected of us next to defend even the smallest freedoms?”

People rush to Salman Rushdie’s aid after he was stabbed. Picture: Twitter

The New York Times reported that Matar was straining to continue the attack even while being held back by several people.

Major Eugene J. Staniszewski of the New York State Police said Matar had purchased a ticket for the event and his motive was still unknown.

Authorities are now in the process of obtaining search warrants for a backpack and for electronic devices that were found at the institution.

Salman Rushdie is seen being loaded onto a medical evacuation helicopter near the Chautauqua Institution. Picture: Horatio Gates/AFP

Salman Rushdie. Picture: Rachel Eliza Griffiths

Earlier, New York State Police issued a brief statement following the attack.

“On August 12, 2022, at about 11am, a male suspect ran up onto the stage and attacked Rushdie and an interviewer,” it read.

“Rushdie suffered an apparent stab wound to the neck, and was transported by helicopter to an area hospital.

“His condition is not yet known.”

The Indian-born novelist previously received death threats for his writing, particularly for his book the Satanic Verses in 1988, which many Muslims consider to be blasphemous.

Iran and Pakistan banned the book after uproar and he was issued a fatwa – a death sentence – by Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini in 1989.

Khomeini’s threat forced Rushdie into hiding for the best part of a decade and the writer claimed to receive a “Valentine’s card” from Iran each year reminding him that they wanted him dead.

The Iranian government later walked back the fatwa, but as recently as 2012 a semi-official religious organisation inside Iran placed an over US$3 million (A$4.6m) bounty on the author’s head.

Iranian women are seen holding banners which read ‘Kill Salman Rushdie’ during a demonstration against the British writer in 1989. Picture: Norbert Schiller/AFP

The chief executive of PEN America, the literature and human rights non-profit that Rushdie used to be president of, released a statement on the author’s stabbing, soon after the attack.

Suzanne Nossel wrote in the memo that Rushdie had emailed her about placements for Ukrainian writers hours before he was stabbed.

“PEN America is reeling from shock and horror at word of a brutal, premeditated attack on our former President and stalwart ally, Salman Rushdie, who was reportedly stabbed multiple times while on stage speaking at the Chautauqua Institute in upstate New York,” she said in the statement.

“Just hours before the attack, on Friday morning, Salman had emailed me to help with placements for Ukrainian writers in need of safe refuge from the grave perils they face. Salman Rushdie has been targeted for his words for decades but has never flinched nor faltered.

“He has devoted tireless energy to assisting others who are vulnerable and menaced.

“While we do not know the origins or motives of this attack, all those around the world who have met words with violence or called for the same are culpable for legitimatising this assault on a writer while he was engaged in his essential work of connecting to readers.

“Our thoughts and passions now lie with our dauntless Salman, wishing him a full and speedy recovery. We hope and believe fervently that his essential voice cannot and will not be silenced.”

In this file photo taken on November 16, 2012, British author Salman Rushdie takes part in a TV show. Picture: Kenzo Tribouillard / AFP

Rushdie won the Booker Prize in 1981 for his second novel, Midnight’s Children.

He has lived in the US since 2000, and he was named a Distinguished Writer in Residence at New York University in 2015.

He has been short-listed for the Booker Prize five times, for Midnight’s Children, in 1983 for Shame, in 1988 for The Satanic Verses, in 1995 for The Moor’s Last Sign, and in 2019 for Quichotte.

— with New York Post