New York State Police reported that on Friday morning, a man stormed the stage where Indian-born author Salman Rushdie was scheduled to appear and attacked the author. Rushdie had received a death threat from Iran in the 1980s. According to the police, Rushdie was stabbed in the neck and taken by helicopter to a nearby hospital.
Hadi Matar, a 24-year-old male from Fair View, New Jersey, has been identified by police as the person in custody. State Police Major Eugene Staniszewski said during a press briefing on Friday night that a motive had not been determined.
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The 75-year-old celebrated writer was a guest lecturer at a Chautauqua Institution lecture series when the incident occurred. A police report states that at around 11 a.m. ET, a man charged the stage and attacked Rushdie and an interviewer.
Rushdie was rushed to a nearby hospital, and the suspect was quickly apprehended. According to Staniszewski, Rushdie is currently in the operating room, and his health is uncertain. Also, he mentioned that Henry Reese, the interviewer, was taken to the hospital and released after being treated for a concussion.
Reese, who was onstage with Rushdie at the time of the attack, is a co-founder of the City of Asylum, a residential program for writers in exile. Event security is evaluated on a case-by-case basis, according to President Michael Hill of the Chautauqua Institution.
We take security very seriously,” he remarked at a press briefing. The institution claimed to have a State Trooper and a Sheriff’s officer present due to the significance of the upcoming event. Hill outlined how Matar, like every other attendee, had paid for a ticket to the show.
I just learned that Salman Rushdie was attacked in New York. I am really shocked. I never thought it would happen. He has been living in the West, and he has been protected since 1989. If he is attacked, anyone who is critical of Islam can be attacked. I am worried.
— taslima nasreen (@taslimanasreen) August 12, 2022
The tragedy “we experienced at Chautauqua today is unlike anything in our nearly 150-year history,” Hill added. Fear and the worst of human emotions, hate, are what we’re being asked to face head-on right now.
According to the event website, Rushdie was at the Chautauqua Institution to talk with Reese about how the United States provides a safe haven for writers who are forced to live in exile. From Death Threats Against Salman Rushdie to Attacks Against ‘Charlie Hebdo,’ It’s Been a Bad Year for Free Speech.
From Death Threats to “Charlie Hebdo” to Threats Against Salman Rushdie. Rushdie has written 14 novels, including his most famous work, The Satanic Verses, which caused him to receive death threats from the leader of Iran in 1989. Rushdie has been a vocal supporter of free speech well beyond his literary career. Between 2004 to 2006, he led PEN America as its president, and for the next decade, he oversaw the PEN World Voices International Literary Festival as its chairman.
I condemn the barbaric attack on Salman Rushdie by some fanatic . I hope that NY police and the court will take the strongest action possible against the attacker .
— Javed Akhtar (@Javedakhtarjadu) August 12, 2022
Executive Director of PEN America Suzanne Nossel released a statement expressing the organization’s dismay over the incident. Only hours before the attack, Rushdie had emailed her asking for her assistance in finding shelter for writers in Ukraine.
For decades, Nossel remarked, “Salman Rushdie has been targeted for his words, but he has never flinched or faltered.” He has worked tirelessly to protect the weak and helpless.
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