Controversial author Salman Rushdie was so shocked when a masked man lunged at him with a knife on stage in western New York that he didn’t even attempt to resist, a prosecutor said Monday during opening statements in the suspect’s attempted murder trial, according to a CNN report.
The 77-year-old author is expected to testify against Hadi Matar, marking their first confrontation since the alleged attack that left Rushdie seriously injured and blind in one eye.
On the day of the August 2022 attack, Rushdie was seated on stage at the Chautauqua Institution Amphitheater, preparing to speak on protecting writers. District Attorney Jason Schmidt told jurors the assault was swift and brutal. Matar ran up a staircase, crossed 30 feet, and repeatedly stabbed Rushdie before the author or fellow speaker Henry Reese could react.
“Without hesitation, this man forcefully and efficiently plunged the knife into Mr. Rushdie over and over,” Schmidt said. “Stabbing, swinging, slicing—his head, his throat, his abdomen, his thigh, and even the hand he raised to protect himself.”
The attack happened so quickly that Rushdie and Reese, co-founder of City of Asylum in Pittsburgh, initially remained seated in shock. Reese sustained a gash above his eye.
Rushdie eventually ran, with Matar in pursuit, before bystanders subdued the attacker. Chautauqua Institution employee Jordan Steves testified that he rushed from backstage and tackled Matar. “I ran as fast as I could and used my whole body to disrupt what was happening,” Steves said.
Matar, 27, of Fairview, New Jersey, has pleaded not guilty to attempted murder and assault. As he entered the courtroom Monday, he calmly said, “Free Palestine.” During Schmidt’s opening statement, he smiled and laughed while speaking with his attorneys.
“This is not a case of mistaken identity,” Schmidt told the jury. “Mr. Matar attacked Mr. Rushdie without provocation.”
Rushdie has chronicled the attack and his recovery in Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder, published last year. He has faced threats since his 1989 novel The Satanic Verses was condemned as blasphemous by many Muslims, leading Iran’s Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini to issue a fatwa calling for his death. Although Iran later stated it would not enforce the edict, Rushdie spent years in hiding before resuming public life.
The trial coincides with the approaching 36th anniversary of the fatwa on February 14, 1989.
Bd-pratidin English/ Jisan
