Latest news with #ChautauquaInstitute
New York Post
16-05-2025
- New York Post
Salman Rushdie's attacker Hadi Matar gets max sentence for horrific stabbing
The crazed fanatic who tried to stab Salman Rushdie to death on a New York lecture stage was sentenced Friday to the maximum sentence of 25 years in prison. Hadi Matar, 26, was found guilty of attempted murder and assault in February over the horror attack that saw him trying to carry out a decades-old fatwa by ambushing the 77-year-old novelist as he was giving a lecture at the Chautauqua Institute in August 2022. Before sentencing, the knifeman — who repeatedly shouted pro-Palestinian slogans during his trial — stood and made a statement about freedom of speech in which he called Rushdie a hypocrite. Matar received the maximum 25-year sentence for the attempted murder of Rushdie and seven years for wounding a man who was on stage with him. The sentences must run concurrently because both victims were injured in the same event, District Attorney Jason Schmidt said. 4 Hadi Matar was convicted of trying to kill Salman Rushdie when he repeatedly stabbed him during a lecture. AP The sentence was handed down after a seven-day trial where Rushdie took the stand to recount the vicious attack — even showing jurors his sightless right eye, which he keeps hidden under darkened eyeglasses. Rushdie described, too, in harrowing detail how he feared he was dying when his masked attacker plunged the knife into his head and body more than a dozen times just as he was being introduced on stage to give the lecture on writer safety. Footage of the bloodshed played during the trial showed a knife-wielding Matar approaching from behind before stabbing him in front of the horrified audience. Rushdie could be seen stumbling forward as Matar clung to him, swinging and stabbing until they both fell to the ground and were separated by witnesses. 4 Rushdie testified about how he thinks he would have died if not for people intervening to take Matar down. He also showed jurors his right eye, which was blinded in the attack. AP 4 Matar was trying to carry out the decades-old fatwa on Rushdie when he stabbed him in 2022.. AP In addition to be blinded in his eye, the author suffered nerve and liver damage — all of which he barely survived. Rushdie — who detailed his recovery in his 2024 memoir 'Knife' — spent 17 days at a Pennsylvania hospital in the aftermath of the attack, as well as more than three weeks at a New York City rehabilitation center. Matar — who was born in America but also has Lebanese citizenship — still faces a federal trial on terrorism-related charges. Authorities alleged that Matar was trying to carry out a decades-old fatwa, or edict, calling for Rushdie's death when he traveled from his home in Fairview, New Jersey, to target the writer. 4 Rushdie was in the hospital and a rehab facility for weeks after the harrowing incident. AP 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, federal prosecutors charged. He has pleaded not guilty to providing material to terrorists, attempting to provide material support to Hezbollah and engaging in terrorism transcending national boundaries. With Post wires
Yahoo
01-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Annual Boat & Fish Show docks at Erie's bayfront
Over 50 boats have been docked at the Bayfront Convention Center and are ready to be viewed. The annual Boat and Fishing show is taking place this weekend with nine regional dealers who have reeled in the best they have to offer. Jersey Mike's Subs Month of Giving returning this March From pontoons to pleasure crafts, a wide variety of boats are on display with over 20 brands. Spectators can also take part in other activities including learning how to fish from the experts Morgan Freeman coming to Chautauqua Institute this summer 'We have some seminars as well so you come down and learn about different areas where you can fish on Lake Erie and different techniques,' said Ed Snyder, general manager of the Bayfront Convention Center. 'It's the perfect time of year for the boat show, spring's almost here, everyone is tired of winter, thinking about getting back on the water so it's a great time to come down and see what we have.' The show takes place Friday until 7 p.m., Saturday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
28-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Remote Area Medical coming to Ashtabula Co. for free clinic
(WJET/WFXP)– Another free healthcare clinic is on its way to the region, this time taking place in Ashtabula County near the end of March. Remote Area Medical (RAM) announced this week they're hosting a healthcare clinic for residents, regardless of their insurance standing, free of charge offering dental, vision and medical care to anyone in need. Morgan Freeman coming to Chautauqua Institute this summer RAM will be at Lakeside Junior High School, located at 6620 Sanborn Road, on March 22 and 23 with doors opening at 6 a.m. each day and patients being seen on a first come, first served basis. No ID or insurance is required for the event with general medical exams, dental cleanings, extractions, eye exams, and prescription glasses made on-site available throughout the weekend. There will also be free Narcan training take-home HTV kits, local healthcare options, nutrition, and more. Jersey Mike's Subs Month of Giving returning this March RAM is encouraging anyone who may need or want the free services to attend and to show up as early as possible, especially if they're looking for dental services. Attendees should also be prepared to choose between dental and vision services due to time constraints. The ending time also may vary based on how much each service can be provided. For more information on the event, check out their Facebook page. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
28-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Morgan Freeman coming to Chautauqua Institute this summer
(WJET/WFXP)– One of Hollywood's biggest stars will be coming to the Chautauqua Institution this summer as part of their series on harnessing history. The Chautauqua Institute announced Friday that actor Morgan Freeman will be joining their morning lecture series on Aug. 19 talking about the history, heritage and preservation of blues music in American culture. Jersey Mike's Subs Month of Giving returning this March That same evening, Freeman will be introducing the Symphonic Blues, conducted by Martin Gellner, with the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra at the institution's amphitheater and will return on Aug 20 for a master class alongside blues musicians. The concert will have video narrated by Freeman with performances that combine the roots of Mississippi Delta Blues with the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra's performers to take attendees on a transformative journey through the music, culture, and legacy of the Mississippi Delta where blues music was born. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Registration for the masterclass opens on April 28 and is part of their Special Studies registration. Tickets for the Aug. 19 concert are available Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
11-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Salman Rushdie removes glasses for one-eyed stare down of attacker
Sir Salman Rushdie turned to his left, removed his glasses, one lens tinted, one clear and revealed to the jury the deep scar where his right eye used to be. 'You can see that's what's left of it. There's no vision in the eye at all,' he said, sitting just 20ft away from the man who took it away. Taking the witness stand at the trial of his assailant, Hadi Matar, the author went into excruciating detail about the brutal attack in Upstate New York on Aug 12 2022. Dressed in a dark suit and blue tie, Sir Salman remained composed and cool while face to face with his attacker for the first time since he was stabbed 15 times on stage at the Chautauqua Institution. Sitting in the second row of the courtroom, Rachel Eliza Griffiths, Sir Salman's wife, became tearful as she watched her husband walk across the courtroom's maroon carpets to the witness box. Speaking in the wood panelled room just four miles away from the scene of the attack, the Booker Prize winner described how he thought he was dying as he lay in a 'lake' of his own blood during the frenzied attack. As he entered courtroom 207, Matar, 27, dressed in the same untucked blue shirt and black plimsolls as Monday, sang: From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.' Matar, who faces up to 25 years in prison if he is convicted of attempted murder and assault, barely averted his gaze from a yellow legal pad in front of him as Sir Salman described the savage attack. Sir Salman, who had written about confronting his assailant in his memoir Knife: Mediations After an Attempted Murder, only briefly looked at the defendant as he spoke, instead focusing his attention on the jury, who sat gripped by his testimony. The author said he had just sat down in his armchair on stage at the Chautauqua Institute's amphitheatre to begin his conversation with Henry Reese, his friend and founder of City of Asylum, when the attack unfolded. 'I was aware of this person rushing at me from my right hand side,' Sir Rushdie said, adding: 'I only saw him at the last minute.' Describing the figure, he said he was wearing black clothes, a black face mask and was dark haired. 'I was very struck by his eyes which were dark and seemed very ferocious to me,' Sir Salman said. A defence lawyer for Matar objected to the characterisation, and Judge David Foley struck the answer from the very record. He said the assailant 'hit me very hard... on the lower part of my face, my jawline and my neck', gesturing with his hands. 'Initially, I thought he had punched me. I thought he was hitting me with his fist. But very soon afterwards I saw quite a very large quantity of blood pouring out onto my clothes, and by that time he was hitting me repeatedly. Stabbing, slashing,' he said. 'I struggled to my feet to try to get away from him,' he said, but his assailant was above him. He was stabbed five or six times while he sat in the chair, including the most 'painfully and most dangerously' in his right eye, which blinded it. 'I was screaming because of the pain and I couldn't see out of the eye,' he said. 'At some point I put up my left hand to try and protect myself and he stuck the knife in that,' he added, noting that it had severed all of the tendons on his hand and almost all of the nerves. It was 'intensely painful,' he said, and he was 'yelling about that too'. 'He was trying to hit me as many times as possible, strike me as many times as possible,' he said. The Satanic Verses author was emotionless as he went into graphic detail describing his injuries from top to bottom for the jury. Slowly tracing the scars across his head, he said there was a 'slash' to his forehead. 'There's a scar visible on the left hand side here, slash wound here,' he added as he ran his fingers over the scar on the left side of his mouth. He described further injuries to his neck, including one which ran 'left to right across my neck... that was a slash wound'. There was also a cut to his tongue which had to be treated with half a dozen stitches, but he said he was unsure whether this had been caused by him biting his own tongue. 'There are three puncture wounds down the middle of my chest,' Sir Salman added, miming a stabbing motion with his hand three times, which he says 'fortunately' did not damage the heart. Sir Salman described feeling a 'sense of great pain and shock and an awareness of the enormous quantity of blood I was lying in, a lake of blood that was clearly my own blood that was spreading outwards'. 'Henry Reese ran across the stage and tackled the individual and after that a number of members of the audience… also came up on stage to help,' he said. 'I was lying on the ground in pain… I was aware of a small pile of people to my right essentially subduing the attacker and thanks that I guess I survived.' He added: 'It occurred to me quite clearly that I was dying, that was my predominant thought.' A voice called out for a pair of scissors to cut his clothes off and see where the blood was coming from. He then described being wheeled out on a stretcher and airlifted to the trauma unit in Hamot hospital in Erie, Pennsylvania, where he went into surgery for 'many hours'. The author was put on a ventilator for 24 hours, and when he regained consciousness that evening he began answering yes or no questions with his feet. The gash to his neck was 'so bad that it had to be held together by metal staples'. He was left 'extremely weak' after losing an 'enormous amount of blood' that he was unable to sit up. During his 17 days he had a 'painful' operation to have his eyelid stitched together. He was then transferred to the Rusk rehab centre in New York, where he spent a further three weeks recovering. Now, two-and-a-half years later, Sir Salman said he has recovered only 75 to 80 per cent. He is not as 'energetic' or 'strong' as he used to be, his left hand has not fully recovered – he only has feeling in his thumb and index finger. He had written his book, Knife 'as a result of these events as a way for me to understand and deal with them,' he added. Sir Salman's attack came three decades after Ayatollah Khomeini, the former Iranian supreme leader, issued a fatwa calling for his execution for The Satanic Verses, which he deemed blasphemous to the prophet Muhammad. In a brief cross-examination, assistant public defender Lynn Schaffer brought up Sir Salman's appearance in Bridget Jones, with the author joking it was his 'most important work'. Wearing extravagantly patterned tights, she asked Sir Salman if she believed in freedom of expression, freedom of speech, if he engages in satire and if he believes in due process and the right to a jury trial. He said he did. The author agreed that trauma can impact the way we remember things, and said he had a 'false memory that when I saw the attacker I stood up to face him'. Sir Salman agreed he would characterise the attack as an assault. He also confirmed that he had said before the attack that his biggest fear was becoming blind. Following his extraordinary testimony, which lasted under two hours, Sir Salman stood up and walked back across the maroon carpet towards his wife. Matar did not look up. The trial continues. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. 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