Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Man who attacked Salman Rushdie found guilty of attempted murder

Matar was convicted of attempted murder in the second degree and assault in the second degree. He will be sentenced on 23 April and could face up to 25 years in prison.

Salman-Rushdie

Salman Rushdie, 77, was stabbed multiple times in the head, neck, torso, and left hand. (Photo: Getty Images)

HADI MATAR, the man who attacked author Salman Rushdie on stage at a New York arts event in 2022, has been found guilty of attempted murder.

A jury convicted Matar, 27, on Friday after a trial at Chautauqua County Court in Mayville. During the attack, Matar rushed onto the stage at the Chautauqua Institution as Rushdie was being introduced for a discussion on writer safety. Some videos of the attack were shown to jurors during seven days of testimony.


Rushdie, 77, was stabbed multiple times in the head, neck, torso, and left hand. The attack blinded him in his right eye and caused serious injuries to his liver and intestines, requiring emergency surgery and a long recovery.

The author testified at the trial, recounting how he believed he was going to die. He removed his adapted spectacles with a blacked-out right lens to show jurors his blinded eye.

Matar was convicted of attempted murder in the second degree and assault in the second degree. The assault charge relates to the stabbing of Henry Reese, co-founder of Pittsburgh’s City of Asylum, who was moderating the discussion with Rushdie when the attack occurred.

Matar will be sentenced on 23 April and could face up to 25 years in prison.

After the verdict, Chautauqua County District Attorney Jason Schmidt commended the audience members who intervened during the attack.

“The Chautauqua Institution community, which I believe saved Mr Rushdie’s life when they intervened, I would say to you that this entire community deserved swift justice here, and I’m glad that we were able to achieve that for them,” Schmidt said.

Matar’s lawyer, Nathaniel Barone, said his client was disappointed with the verdict.

“The video, I think, was extremely damaging to Mr Matar,” Barone said outside the courtroom. “It’s that old expression, a picture is worth a thousand words.”

Rushdie, born into a Muslim Kashmiri family in India, has faced threats since the 1988 release of his novel The Satanic Verses. Iran’s then-Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, had declared the book blasphemous.

After his arrest, Matar told the New York Post that he travelled from his home in New Jersey to the event because he disliked Rushdie, saying the author had “attacked Islam.” He also told the paper he was surprised Rushdie survived.

Matar did not testify in his trial. His lawyers argued that prosecutors had not proven the intent to kill needed for an attempted murder conviction and said he should have been charged with assault instead.

Separately, Matar faces federal charges in western New York, including attempting to murder Rushdie as an act of terrorism and providing material support to Hezbollah, which the US has designated a terrorist organisation.

He is set to face those charges in a separate trial in Buffalo.

(With inputs from agencies)

More For You

Trump

Trump said the suspect had been arrested earlier for 'terrible crimes,' including child sex abuse, grand theft auto and false imprisonment, but was released under the Biden administration because Cuba refused to take him back.

Getty Images

Trump says accused in Dallas motel beheading will face first-degree murder charge

US PRESIDENT Donald Trump has described Chandra Mouli “Bob” Nagamallaiah, the Indian-origin motel manager killed in Dallas, as a “well-respected person” and said the accused will face a first-degree murder charge.

Nagamallaiah, 50, was killed last week at the Downtown Suites motel by co-worker Yordanis Cobos-Martinez, a 37-year-old undocumented Cuban immigrant with a criminal history.

Keep ReadingShow less
Starmer Mandelson

Starmer talks with Mandelson during a welcome reception at the ambassador's residence on February 26, 2025 in Washington, DC.

Getty

Starmer under pressure from party MPs after Mandelson dismissal

PRIME MINISTER Keir Starmer is facing questions within the Labour party after the sacking of US ambassador Peter Mandelson.

Mandelson was removed last week after Bloomberg published emails showing messages of support he sent following Jeffrey Epstein’s conviction for sex offences. The dismissal comes just ahead of US president Donald Trump’s state visit.

Keep ReadingShow less
Piyush Goyal

Piyush Goyal recalled that in February, Narendra Modi and Donald Trump had instructed their trade ministers to conclude the first phase of the bilateral trade agreement (BTA) by November 2025. (Photo: Getty Images)

Getty Images

Trade talks with US moving forward positively, says Indian minister Goyal

INDIA’s commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday said that negotiations on the proposed trade agreement between India and the United States, which began in March, are progressing in a positive atmosphere and both sides are satisfied with the discussions.

He recalled that in February, Indian prime minister Narendra Modi and US president Donald Trump had instructed their trade ministers to conclude the first phase of the bilateral trade agreement (BTA) by November 2025.

Keep ReadingShow less
West Midlands Police

West Midlands Police said they were called just before 08:30 BST on Tuesday, September 9, after the woman reported being attacked by two men near Tame Road. (Representational image: iStock)

Woman raped in racially aggravated attack in Oldbury

A WOMAN in her 20s was raped in Oldbury in what police are treating as a racially aggravated attack.

West Midlands Police said they were called just before 08:30 BST on Tuesday, September 9, after the woman reported being attacked by two men near Tame Road. Officers said the men made a racist remark during the incident.

Keep ReadingShow less
Tommy Robinson

The event, which Robinson has promoted for months, is being billed by him as the 'UK's biggest free speech festival.' (Photo: Getty Images)

London prepares for rival demonstrations, police deploy 1,600 officers

Highlights

  • More than 1,600 officers deployed across London on Saturday
  • Far-right activist Tommy Robinson to lead "Unite the Kingdom" march
  • Anti-racism groups to stage counter-protests in Whitehall
  • Police impose conditions on routes and timings of demonstrations

LONDON police will deploy more than 1,600 officers across the city on Saturday as rival demonstrations take place, including a rally organised by far-right activist Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, known as Tommy Robinson, and a counter-protest by anti-racism campaigners.

Keep ReadingShow less