More On: Salman Rushdie
After the attack on stage, Salman Rushdie is on a ventilator and is likely to lose an eye
A report says that author Salman Rushdie was attacked on stage at a literary event in upstate New York on Friday. He is on a ventilator and may lose one of his eyes.
The writer's agent, Andrew Wylie, told The New York Times, "The news is not good."
Wylie said, "Salman will probably lose one eye. The nerves in his arm were cut, and he was stabbed in the liver, which hurt it."
Rushdie was attacked by a single man while he was speaking at the Chautauqua Institution in Chautauqua, NY, about 55 miles south of Buffalo. He still can't talk.
The institute said that he was going to talk about how the United States is a place for exiled authors because it is "a home for freedom of expression." He was flown by helicopter to a hospital in Erie, Pennsylvania, where he had surgery after being stabbed.
A person in the audience told The Post that Rushdie tried to run off the stage, and that he and the attacker got into a fight before people in the audience rushed onstage and stopped the attacker.
At the time, there were about 2,500 people in the crowd.
Hadi Matar, who is 24 years old and from Fairview, New Jersey, is accused of attacking Rushdie. He was arrested at the scene by a state trooper who was sent to the lecture.
A State Police spokesman said that they were looking into Matar's possible reasons.
But sources in law enforcement told The Post that Matar was on the side of the Iranian government. In 1989, the Iranian government's leader at the time, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, ordered the death of Salman Rushdie because of "The Satanic Verses."
Law enforcement sources told The Post that Matar had posted on social media about his support for Iran and its Revolutionary Guard, as well as his support for Shia extremism in general.
Jake Sulliving, the U.S. National Security Advisor, said in a statement early Saturday morning that the attack was "appalling."
The statement said, "Everyone in the Biden-Harris administration is praying for his speedy recovery." "We are grateful to the good people and first responders who helped Mr. Rushdie right away after the attack, as well as to the police for their quick and effective work, which is still going on."
Matar also attacked the event's moderator, Henry Reese, who was 73 years old. Police said that he hurt his face and was treated and released from a nearby hospital.
President Michael Hill told the Associated Press that Matar, like other visitors, had gotten a pass to enter the institution's 750-acre grounds. The Buffalo News says that a sheriff's deputy and a K-9 at the event looked through his backpack.
A waitress who works at the Chautauqua Institution, Kienna Brown, said that the attacker spent the night at the Athenaeum Hotel.
“They had to close down employee parking and evacuate to search his room. They weren’t allowing guests in and out [of the hotel],” Brown told The Post.
“A lot of people were traumatized by the events today. It’s very sad,” she said.
Steve Mackey, a server at Heirloom restaurant in Chautauqua said that his coworkers served Matar the night before the attack.
“There was just little interaction. There was shock that they served this guy and the next day he’s on world news,” he said.
Matar’s New Jersey home was swarmed with law enforcement after the stabbing. His attorney, public defender Nathaniel Barone, has declined to comment.
Dr. Martin Haskell, a physician who was among those who rushed to help, described Rushdie’s wounds as “serious but recoverable.”
Witness Kathleen James, said Matar was clad in black clothing and wore a black mask when he rushed the stage.
“We thought perhaps it was part of a stunt to show that there’s still a lot of controversy around this author. But it became evident in a few seconds” that it wasn’t, she told the Associated Press.
Rushdie's controversial book "The Satanic Verses," which came out in 1988, led the leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, to call for Rushdie's death, saying that the book made blasphemous comments about Islam.
Someone put a $3 million reward on his head for killing him.
Rushdie was born into a Muslim family in Mumbai, India. He is a strong supporter of the right to free speech and a critic of religious extremism.
From 1989 to 2002, the British government kept him hidden so that he wouldn't be found. After years of being protected around the clock, he slowly got back into the public eye.
In 2008, Queen Elizabeth II made him a knight. Many people think he is one of the best living writers in the UK.
“We ask for your prayers for Salman Rushdie and Henry Reese, and patience as we fully focus on coordinating and cooperating with police officials following a tragic incident at the Amphitheater today,” the Chautauqua Institution said in a statement on its website. “All institution programs are canceled for the remainder of the day.”
