BREAKING: Salman Rushdie Suspected Attacker Named— 'The Satanic Verses' Author 'May Likely Lose One Eye'
Police have finally named the suspect on the recent brutal stabbing of world-acclaimed author Salman Rushdie while giving a lecture in western New York.
Reporter Joshua Goodman, an Associated Press reporter at the event, witnessed the attack on stage at the Chautauqua Institution. Goodman recalls seeing the suspect rush to the stage while Salman was being introduced before proceeding to "punch or stab him 10 to 15 times in the neck and abdomen". The event moderator, Henry Reese, was also caught in the attack while interviewing Salman.
"It was very surreal is the only way you'd describe it," Goodman commented. "This was the last place you'd expect something like this."
CNN reports that Police have identified the attacker as Hadi Matar, 24, of Fairview, New Jersey. Matar was immediately arrested on the scene after the assault. According to State police Maj. Eugene Staniszewski, the motive for the attack is still unclear.
State police Maj. Eugene Staniszewski tells CNN that the authorities are still working to obtain search warrants for several items found at the scene, which includes a backpack and electronic devices. They believe that Matar had been operating alone for the assault, but are still investigating "to make sure that was the case," Staniszewski added.
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The Aftermath of the Assault
Dr. Martin Haskell, a physician who was among those on the scene who rushed to help, described Rushdie's wounds as "serious but recoverable."
The 75-year-old author was flown to a hospital in north-western Pennsylvania and underwent surgery. His agent, Andrew Wylie, said the writer was on a ventilator Friday evening and could not speak.
"Salman will likely lose one eye; the nerves in his arm were severed; and his liver was stabbed and damaged," Wylie told the New York Times. "The news is not good."
Police also updated that the event coordinator who was also attacked, Henry Reese, had suffered a facial injury. Reese had been treated and released from the hospital.
Rushdie Created Decade-long Enemies
Rushdie has been a prominent spokesman for free expression and liberal causes. According to PEN America CEO Suzanne Nossel, Rushdie had been "targeted for his words for decades but has never flinched nor faltered."
However, the Daily Beast recalls how Rushdie's piece, "The Satanic Verses" had spurred a call for his assassination by the supreme leader of Iran, Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini as early as the 1980's. The author has been dubbed as "an enemy of Islam" for decades, thus, being granted police protection by the government in Britain.
