New York: The 24-year-old man detained in connection with the stabbing of controversial Mumbai-born author Salman Rushdie was sympathetic to the cause of “Shia extremism” and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, according to a media report. Rushdie, who faced years of Islamist death threats after writing “The Satanic Verses,” was stabbed on stage Friday as he was being presented at the Chautauqua Institution event in western New York.
New York State Police identified the suspect as Hadi Matar of Fairview, New Jersey, while the motive behind the act is still unknown. Before a speech event at the Chautauqua Institution in Chautauqua, the suspect ran onto the stage and attacked Rushdie, 75.
According to law enforcement officials, the author was “stabbed in the neck at least once and in the stomach at least once.” Rushdie was taken to a nearby local hospital where he underwent surgery, while the attacker was taken into New York State police custody. Police said Rushdie’s interviewer was also attacked during the incident and suffered minor head injuries.
Officials were still investigating Mutter’s nationality and his criminal record, if any. A preliminary review of Matar’s social media accounts by law enforcement showed him to be sympathetic to the cause of Shia extremism and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a law enforcement person with direct knowledge of the investigation told NBC News.
Although there is no direct link between Matar and the IRGC, according to NBC News, law enforcement officials found images of slain commander Qasem Soleimani and an Iraqi extremist sympathetic to the Iranian regime in a cell phone messaging app belonging to Matar. .
Soleimani was a senior Iranian military officer who served in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. From 1998 till his assassination in 2020. Rushdie’s book The Satanic Verses has been banned in Iran since 1988 because many Muslims consider it offensive to Islam. The author spent nearly 10 years under police protection in the United Kingdom, living in hiding after Iran’s late leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a fatwa calling for Rushdie’s execution. A reward of more than US$3 million has been offered for the murderer of Rushdie, who has been a leading spokesman for free expression and liberal causes.
Rushdie has lived in the US since 2000.
Rushdie was being produced around 10:45 a.m. when the attack took place, CNN quoted a witness as saying, “The witness said he heard shouting from the audience.” He said a man in a black shirt was “punching” the author. The witness, who was 75 feet away from the stage, did not say anything to the attacker or see the weapon.
The witness said some in the onlookers rushed to help, while others followed the attacker. State police said a doctor in the audience during the event assisted Rushdie until emergency responders arrived.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul told reporters Friday that a state soldier “save (Rushdie’s) life by standing up and protecting him as well as the moderator who was attacked.” An eyewitness to the attack told CNN that there were no security searches or metal detectors in the incident.
The suspect in Friday’s attack had a “pass to reach the ground”, Chautauqua Institution president Dr. Michael E. Hill said at the news conference. Guests can purchase passes to attend events, Hill said.
Hill defended the institution’s measures, saying, “We do an assessment for each incident to determine what we think is an appropriate safety level, and it was certainly one we considered important, which is why our Nearby was the presence of a state trooper and sheriff,” he said. , Stanizewski stated that there was no sign of any threat to the event and that the state trooper was there because the event was a mass gathering and because of the institution’s request.
Joyce Lussier, 83, who was seated in the second row of the amphitheater during the attack, said that Rushdie had taken a seat on the right side of the stage when, suddenly, a man who appeared to be all black, “lean across the stage” and leaned on Rushdie. Got it right.”
“They caught him immediately, he didn’t get off the stage at all,” Lucier said of the suspect. “Soon thereafter, the crowd was asked to evacuate,” he said. Another witness, a longtime Chautauqua resident, who asked not to be identified, recalled an uproar on stage and about seven to 10 stabbings in the author’s direction, a man who stood halfway. She said she fled the open-air amphitheater “trembling like a leaf” in fear.