Sir Salman Rushdie is still on a ventilator after being attacked onstage at an event in western New York state on Friday morning.
Salman Rushdie was about to give a talk in western New York when he was stabbed in the neck and chest. In the 1980s, Iran sent him death threats because of his writing.
Salman Rushdie, who is 75, was taken to surgery, and his spokesman, Andrew Wylie, said in a statement early Friday evening that the author was put on a ventilator and had suffered serious injuries: “The news is not good. Salman will probably lose one eye; the nerves in his arm were cut, and his liver was stabbed and damaged.
Later, the man who was thought to have stabbed Salman Rushdie was found to be 24-year-old Hadi Matar from Fairview, New Jersey. He had bought a ticket to the event.
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A reporter for the Associated Press saw a man storm the stage at the Chautauqua Institution as Salman Rushdie was being introduced to speak to hundreds of people about artistic freedom. The man then began to attack Rushdie.
When Salman Rushdie fell to the floor, shocked people helped pull the man off of him. The attacker was caught by a New York State Police trooper who was working security at the event.
“I don’t know where he came from, but a man jumped up on stage and started what looked like punching him in the chest and neck,” said Bradley Fisher, who was in the audience. “People were screaming and crying and gasping.”
Police said that a doctor in the crowd helped Salman Rushdie while emergency services arrived.
A photo taken by a reporter for the Associated Press shows Rushdie on his back with a first responder huddled over him. The author’s legs were held up above his chest, likely to keep blood flowing to his heart.
Rushdie’s interviewer, Henry Reese, who is 73 years old, was also attacked and got a small cut on the head, according to the police.
Reese was released from the hospital on Friday. He co-founded an organization that gives writers who are being persecuted places to live. In a statement, he said that Rushdie was “one of the great defenders of freedom of speech and freedom of creative expression.” He also said, “The fact that this attack could happen in the United States shows that writers are threatened by many governments, people, and groups.
Jake Sullivan, who works for the White House and is in charge of national security, said that the attack was “appalling.” He said on Twitter, “We’re grateful to the good people and first responders who helped him so quickly.”
The attack happened at the Chautauqua Institution near Erie, which is in western New York state near Lake Erie. It is about 400 miles (644 km) northwest of New York City.
Rushdie, who has written 14 novels, was asked to talk about how important it is for the US to give writers and other artists who are in exile asylum.
Eyewitnesses said that a man in a black mask rushed onstage while Rushdie was sitting on the stage and started to attack him. A retired reporter named Paula Voell told the Buffalo News that it was clear right away that there had been an attack.
“We saw the man run a few steps across the stage, and the whole audience gasped in horror. It seemed like about 15 people ran onto the stage to help him,” she said.
Moments after the attack, people in the crowd can be seen on phone footage running up to the stage to help. People in the auditorium can be heard gasping as they quickly leave the room.
Jeremy Genovese, 68, a retired professor from Cleveland State University who lives in Beachwood, Ohio, told the Press Association news agency that he arrived at the amphitheater as it was being cleared out and that people were “streaming out.”
He said, “People were shocked, and many were crying. Chautauqua has always been proud of being a place where people can talk with each other in a civil way.
“The amphitheater is a large outdoor place where people have been giving talks since the late 1800s. To get into the grounds, you need a pass, but it’s not hard to get in.”
Law enforcement sources told the New York Post that the suspect Matar was sympathetic to the Iranian government. Authorities told reporters late Friday that they didn’t know why the attack happened.
Rushdie’s book The Satanic Verses has been banned in Iran since 1988 because many Muslims consider it to be blasphemous. A year later, the late leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, called for Rushdie’s death in an order called a fatwa. There has also been a reward of more than $3 million for anyone who kills Rushdie.
Iran’s government has been far away from Khomeini’s order for a long time, but feelings against Rushdie remained.
In 2012, an Iranian religious group with some official status raised the reward for Rushdie from $2.8 million to $3.3 million.
Rushdie laughed off that threat at the time, saying that there was “no evidence” that anyone was interested in the reward. In that same year, Rushdie wrote a book about the fatwa called Joseph Anton.
Journalists, authors and famous people were shocked and worried. Stephen King, who writes scary stories, tweeted, “I hope Salman Rushdie is okay.”
Arundhati Roy, an Indian author, and activist in politics and the environment, told the Guardian, “I am shocked and saddened beyond measure. Nothing can explain why this happened.”
The English food writer and TV chef Nigella Lawson, who is a close friend, wrote, “It is so shocking to hear that Salman Rushdie was stabbed. This is awful. Am distraught. Please, please don’t let him get hurt.”
Kazuo Ishiguro, an English novelist who was born in Japan, told the Guardian, “He’s been incredibly brave all these years, putting himself in danger for the freedom to think and speak, even though the risks never went away.” We keep hoping that he will get better.”
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The French president, Emmanuel Macron, wrote on Twitter, “For 33 years, Salman Rushdie has been a symbol of freedom and the fight against ignorance. So cowardly, he just felt hatred and cruelty. His fight is ours and ours alone. We’re with him now more than ever.”
Rushdie lives in the US, and the governor of New York state, Kathy Hochul, told a press conference that a state police officer saved both his and the moderator’s lives.
She also said, “He is alive, and he has been taken to safety by helicopter. But here is someone who has spent decades telling the truth to those in power. This person has been out there without fear, even though he has been threatened his whole adult life.
Salman Rushdie used to be president of PEN America, an organization that supports free expression and speech. Its CEO, Suzanne Nossel, was one of the people who spoke out about the attack.
She said, “PEN America is stunned and horrified… Our thoughts and prayers are now with our brave Salman, and we hope he gets better quickly. We sincerely hope and believe that his essential voice can’t and won’t be silenced.”
Stay tuned fro more updates, Nog Magazine.