NJ Man Stabbed Salman Rushdie During Literary Talk: Police

CHAUTAUQUA, NY — A New Jersey man is accused of attacking and stabbing author Salman Rushdie as he was preparing to speak at a New York literary event, state police said Friday.

Hadi Matar, 24, of Fairview, rushed the stage at the Chautauqua Institution on Friday and attacked Rushdie and an interviewer, according to New York State Police. Rushdie, 75, was stabbed once in the neck and once in the abdomen. The interviewer sustained a minor facial injury, police said.

Rushdie, who has penned more than a dozen novels and was knighted in 2007 for his contributions to literature, was airlifted to a nearby hospital where he is undergoing surgery, state police said at a news conference just after 5 p.m. Friday.

Matar was taken down by members of the audience and immediately taken into custody. A doctor who was in the audience cared for Rushdie until first responders arrived, according to authorities.

Matar is awaiting arraignment and has not been formally charged, authorities said.

According to a statement released by New York state Sen. George Borrello citing authorities, the attack was motivated by "fundamentalist extremism." Borrello went on to condemn the attack.

"The Founding Fathers fled tyranny and knew all too well the dangers of absolutism and religious zealotry," Borrello said. "There is no room, in a free society, for beliefs that demand that you kill someone who disagrees with you."

Rushdie was scheduled to speak Friday morning as part of the Chautauqua Lecture Series. Henry Reese, co-founder and president of City of Asylum in Pittsburgh, was also scheduled to speak.

An AP reporter who witnessed the attack said a man "stormed the stage" and began punching or stabbing Rushdie as he was being introduced. Witnesses told the Washington Post that Rushdie fell through an on-stage barrier and had blood on his hands.

Video from the scene shows several people running on stage following the attack as audience members look on. Others noted the sound of sirens while they stood outside the amphitheater.

Audience member Kathleen Jones told The AP the attacker was dressed in black with a black mask.

"We thought perhaps it was part of a stunt to show that there's still a lot of controversy around this author. But it became evident in a few seconds" that it wasn't, she said.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul released a statement following the attack, thanking police and first responders.

"Our thoughts are with Salman & his loved ones following this horrific event. I have directed State Police to further assist however needed in the investigation," Hochul tweeted.

According to a biography provided by the Chautauqua event, Rushdie is the author of 14 novels, four works of non-fiction and a collection of short stories. His works include "Luka and the Fire of Life," "Grimus," and his most famous "Midnight's Children," for which he won the Booker Prize and the Best of the Booker.

Rushdie is also a former president of PEN America, which in a statement to The AP said it was "reeling from shock and horror" at the attack.

"We can think of no comparable incident of a public violent attack on a literary writer on American soil," CEO Suzanne Nossel said in the statement.

One of Rushdie's books, "The Satanic Verses," is considered to be blasphemous by many Muslims and has been banned in Iran since 1988. A year later, Iran's late leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a fatwa, or edict, calling for Rushdie's death.

A bounty of over $3 million has been offered for anyone who kills Rushdie.

The threats caused Rushdie to go into hiding with the help of the British government. He remained in hiding for nine years before re-emerging and resuming public appearances.

Iran's government has long since distanced itself from Khomeini's decree, but anti-Rushdie sentiment lingered. In 2012, a semi-official Iranian religious foundation raised the bounty for Rushdie from $2.8 million to $3.3 million.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.