Man who stabbed author Salman Rushdie faces sentencing in New York
A jury found Hadi Matar, 27, guilty of attempted murder and assault in February.
Advertisement
Chautauqua County District Attorney Jason Schmidt said he will request the maximum 25 years in prison for the August 12, 2022 attack on Mr Rushdie and seven years for injuring a second man who was on stage with the author.
The sentences must run concurrently because both victims were injured in the same event, he said.
Mr Rushdie is not expected to return to court for his attacker's sentencing, the prosecutor said.
During the trial, the 77-year-old author was the key witness, describing how he believed he was dying when a masked attacker plunged a knife into his head and body more than a dozen times as he was being introduced at the Chautauqua Institution to speak about writer safety.
Advertisement
Mr Rushdie spent 17 days at a Pennsylvania hospital and more than three weeks at a New York City rehabilitation centre.
The author of 'Midnight's Children', 'The Moor's Last Sigh' and 'Victory City' detailed his recovery in his 2024 memoir, 'Knife'.
Matar next faces a trial on terrorism-related charges.
Author Salman Rushdie appears at a press conference at the Book Fair in Frankfurt, Germany (Michael Probst/AP)
While the first trial focused mostly on the details of the knife attack itself, the next one is expected to delve into the more complicated issue of motive.
Advertisement
Authorities said Matar, a US citizen, was attempting to carry out a decades-old fatwa, or edict, calling for Mr Rushdie's death when he travelled from his home in Fairview, New Jersey, to target Mr Rushdie at the summer retreat about 70 miles (112.6 kilometres) south-west of Buffalo.
Matar believed the fatwa, first issued in 1989, was backed by the Lebanon-based militant group Hezbollah and endorsed in a 2006 speech by the group's secretary-general, Hassan Nasrallah, according to prosecutors.
Iranian leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued the fatwa after publication of Mr Rushdie's novel, 'The Satanic Verses', which some Muslims consider blasphemous.
Mr Rushdie spent years in hiding, but after Iran announced it would not enforce the decree he travelled freely over the past quarter century.
Advertisement
Matar pleaded not guilty to a three-count indictment charging him with providing material to terrorists, attempting to provide material support to Hezbollah and engaging in terrorism transcending national boundaries.
Video of the assault, captured by the venue's cameras and played at trial, show Matar approaching the seated Mr Rushdie from behind and reaching around him to stab at his torso with a knife.
As the audience gasps and screams, Mr Rushdie is seen raising his arms and rising from his seat, walking and stumbling for a few steps with Matar hanging on, swinging and stabbing until they both fall and are surrounded by onlookers who rush in to separate them.
Jurors in Matar's first trial delivered their verdict after less than two hours of deliberation.
Advertisement
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Sun
31 minutes ago
- The Sun
I was homeless & pregnant when a woman offered me free essentials – instead she sliced me open in plot to steal my baby
TEKA Adams thought she finally had her life on track after spending years on the streets, but the biggest shock was still to come. When she accepted the offer of some free essentials from a stranger, little did she know she would be left fighting for her and her baby's life. 5 5 5 Teka, 29, was staying in a homeless shelter in Maryland, USA, in December 2009 when the attack happened. "I was living a very rough life, I was very rebellious, I didn't want to abide by anybody's rules," she says. But after meeting her partner, getting pregnant and marrying him, she was determined to make something of her life. Teka was around seven months pregnant when she started receiving calls from an unknown number. The woman on the other end went by Stephanie, and Teka said she sounded 'really nice.' "She told me that she worked for a programme that helped out pregnant women in need," she explained to I Survived. Stephanie told Teka they had piles of baby clothes, car seats and other items that she could stop by and pick out what she needed. While Teka was thrilled by the opportunity, her husband, PJ, had his doubts. But it was too good an opportunity to miss out on, so Teka arranged to meet Stephanie outside the shelter. They ended up driving over to Stephanie's, where Teka sat on the couch while the women talked. All of a sudden, Stephanie threw a weighted blanket over Teka and began beating her on the head. "After she hit me about ten times, I jumped up and I threw my hands up and all I could see was blood. "The only thing that runs through your mind is 'I've got to go.'" So Teka did just that and made a beeline for the front door to get away. Little did she know that Stephanie had three locks on the door, and all of them were shut. She quickly caught up with Teka, jumped on her back and the pair wrestled as Stephanie tried to choke her. Next, she pulled out a metal fire poker and began to beat Teka with it, leaving her unable to move and passed out. When she awoke, she was being dragged by her ankles to the kitchen. "All of a sudden, she knelt to the side of me, and I felt this sharp pain go up my side," Teka recalls. CUT OPEN Looking over, Teka saw Stephanie was using a box cutter to slice her stomach open. The room was soon covered in blood, which Stephanie cleared up with towels, before moving Teka to the bedroom, where she placed her on a mattress on the floor, turning her mobile off so she couldn't call for help. Teka reminded Stephanie that people would be looking for her, namely her husband, but she couldn't be stopped. Instead she got a metal bowl from the kitchen and filled it with ice and a rag, before duct-taping Teka's face and wrists. I've already cut the water sack, so now all I've got to do is reach in and get the baby out. Stephanie With towels, two box cutters, scissors and a knife as her tools, she continued to cut open Teka's stomach. "She started at the bottom, right above my pelvis," she said. "I could feel every single bit of that." Teka was already weak from the beating and now was losing so much blood that she couldn't move or fight back. Instead she watched in horror as Stephanie began nipping at her skin, prying it open. "I've already cut the water sack, so now all I've got to do is reach in and get the baby out," she told Teka, helpless on the floor. "Do you want me to do that right now? Or do you want to go to sleep?" she chillingly asked Teka who responded saying she just wanted a break. Teka eventually passed out, and when she woke up she noticed Stephanie was asleep on the floor. 5 5 QUICK ESCAPE She saw it as her chance to break free and rolled off the mattress onto her hands and knees, before slowly crawling past Stephanie to the bedroom door. As she got to her feet, her entire stomach fell out of her body. "Now I'm holding my stomach like it's a football, and I'm trying not to breathe heavy because every step is pain," she adds. But determined to survive, Teka managed to get to the front door and unlock it. Now standing in an apartment block, she began screaming for help and banging on doors, but nobody came to her rescue. Hearing the commotion, Stephanie emerged and tried to pull her back into her flat, covering her mouth as she did so. I lifted up the shirt and when he saw what was under there, that I couldn't see, he was like 'Oh, I'm calling the cops.' Teka Adams But finally a neighbour came out, and as Stephanie tried to tell him nothing was wrong, Teka pulled up her shirt to reveal the truth. Still remembers he instantly said "oh I'm calling the cops." While Stephanie fled, the emergency services were soon on the scene. They were stunned to see Teka was not just alive, but still able to speak after looking at her injuries. She was rushed for emergency surgery and the first thing she asked was what happened to her child. Thankfully, the baby was alive and unharmed, and Teka decided to call her Miracle. Teka's attacker, whose real name was Veronica Deramous, handed herself into police later that day and was sentenced to 25 years in prison. "I survived because I was coming to a point in my life where I started to love myself, respect myself and cherish life," Teka said. Teka went on to find her own apartment after having Miracle, and told her story to I Survive earlier this summer. Where to seek grief support Need professional help with grief? Child Bereavement UK Cruse Bereavement Relate The Good Grief Trust You can also always speak to your GP if you're struggling. You're Not Alone Check out these books, podcasts and apps that all expertly navigate grief… Griefcast: Cariad Lloyd interviews comedians on this award-winning podcast. The Madness Of Grief by Rev Richard Coles (£9.99, W&N): The Strictly fave writes movingly on losing his husband David to alcoholism. Terrible, Thanks For Asking: Podcast host Nora McInerny encourages non-celebs to share how they're really feeling. Good Mourning by Sally Douglas and Imogen Carn (£14.99, Murdoch Books): A guide for people who've suffered sudden loss, like the authors who both lost their mums. Grief Works: Download this for daily meditations and expert tips. How To Grieve Like A Champ by Lianna Champ (£3.99, Red Door Press): A book for improving your relationship with death.
BBC News
2 hours ago
- BBC News
Man jailed for 'brutal' Hull street stabbing
A man who stabbed two people and left them with "brutal" injuries has been Gonsalves attacked a 33-year-old woman during the early hours of 25 January, leaving her with life-threating injuries to her neck. She was found in Victor also attacked a 35-year-old man, leaving him with serious wounds to his head, stomach and sternum. He was found nearby in Buckingham May, Gonsalves, 48, of New Bridge Road, Hull, pleaded guilty at the city's crown court to attempting to murder the woman. He also admitted grievous bodily harm, which related to the male victim. On Friday, he was sentenced to 27 years in prison, with another four years on extended licence. Humberside Police said CCTV footage showed Gonsalves walking with the man and woman, before a vehicle pulled up alongside them. Gonsalves spoke to those then walked back and grabbed the woman's head and slammed it into a fence, before doing the same to the man, said officers. He also hit the man in the head and the woman was seen leaving a property on Victor Street. Gonsalves waited in the dark before attacking her, officers was placed in an induced coma following surgery. 'Defenceless' victims Det Sgt Johanna Bielby said both victims, from their hospital beds, told officers Gonsalves was detective said both victims were "defenceless", adding they suffered "brutal injuries".She said: "They are both lucky to be alive."Gonsalves is an unpredictable individual who turned on both victims in a matter of seconds and then left them for dead in the street as he attempted to flee the scene to evade arrest."Gonsalves was also ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £228. Listen to highlights from Hull and East Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, watch the latest episode of Look North or tell us about a story you think we should be covering here. Download the BBC News app from the App Store for iPhone and iPad or Google Play for Android devices
The Guardian
2 hours ago
- The Guardian
Three people killed and eight wounded in Brooklyn lounge shooting, police say
Three people were killed and eight others wounded when multiple gunmen opened fire inside a crowded Brooklyn hookah lounge and restaurant early on Sunday morning, according to authorities. Police officers responded to reports of a shooting inside the Taste of the City lounge in Crown Heights just before 3.30am, New York police department (NYPD) commissioner, Jessica Tisch, said at a press briefing later on Sunday. Citing a preliminary, ongoing investigation, Tisch said it appeared the shooting stemmed from gang violence. The three people who were killed were all men and were all pronounced dead at the scene. They were ages 19, 27 and 35, police said. Attributing the information to friends, the New York Daily News identified one of those slain as 35-year-old Jamel Andre Childs. Childs was killed while trying to stop a fight that preceded the shooting, the Daily News reported. Of 11 victims, Tisch added, eight were men and three were women. Their known ages ranged from 27 to 61. The eight wounded victims – five men and three women – were taken to local hospitals with what police said were non-life threatening injuries. Tisch said there were at least four different shooters who fired dozens of rounds in the lounge, striking numerous bystanders. She also said officers had collected at least 42 shell casings inside the lounge that came from 9mm and .45-caliber guns. Officers had recovered one gun near the scene of the shooting, and they were trying to determine whether it was connected to the case, Tisch said. Investigators did not immediately name any suspects or announce arrests. Tisch made it a point to say New York City had registered 'the lowest number of shooting incidents and shooting victims seven months in the year … on record'. Nonetheless, 'it's a terrible thing that's happened', she said. 'It's a terrible shooting,' Tisch added. 'There's no other way to describe it.' 'I can easily stand here and tell you that we have driven down crime, that we have removed over 2,000 illegal guns off our streets,' New York's mayor, Eric Adams, said at a briefing. 'I can give you those numbers and those stats. But that does not comfort those who are victims of gun violence.' Taste of the City Lounge, located less than a half mile from the historic Brooklyn Museum serves American and Caribbean plates with a full bar, hookah and DJs. The business opened three years earlier and was the scene of another shooting in November 2024. That earlier case was non-fatal. The typically Jewish and West Indian area where the shooting occurred has been undergoing rapid gentrification in recent years. In 2017, a bar advertising its 'bullet-ridden' wall caused outrage, with residents accusing the owner of insensitive stereotyping that overlooked the realities and toll of gang violence. As of Sunday, there had been more than 270 mass shootings in the US this year – or 1.18 a day, according to the nonpartisan Gun Violence Archive. The online resource defines a mass shooting as one in which four or more victims are wounded or killed. The US's perennially high rates of such shootings have prompted calls from some in the country for more substantial gun control. But Congress has largely been unable or unwilling to heed those calls.
