Salman Rushdie attacker convicted of terror offenses
Hadi Matar, 28, was convicted of attempting to help Hezbollah by attacking the British-Indian author.
A U.S. man already serving a 25-year sentence for the attempted murder of Sir Salman Rushdie has been found guilty of additional charges, including providing material support to a terrorist organization.
Hadi Matar was convicted in a New York federal court on Wednesday for aiding Hezbollah, the Lebanese armed group designated as a terrorist organization by the U.S., UK, and numerous other nations.
Prosecutors contended that Matar was driven by a 1989 fatwa, a religious edict issued by Iran's religious leader, calling for Rushdie's death.
The acclaimed author testified during the trial, recounting the assault and crediting a firefighter with saving his life through immediate medical attention. The jury found Matar guilty of engaging in an act of transnational terrorism and providing material support to Hezbollah.
During the trial in Buffalo, New York, prosecutors argued that Matar was motivated by a 2006 speech from Hezbollah's then-leader, which urged the enforcement of the fatwa against Sir Salman, and that Matar had plotted the attack for two years.
"The defendant decided no one was going to do it, so he had to do it," Assistant US Attorney Timothy Lynch stated in his closing remarks, as reported by The Buffalo News. "The defendant is the one who answered that call."
Prosecutors also presented videos made by Matar, 28, and questioned Sir Salman on the witness stand about being stabbed 15 times, with injuries to his cheek, chest, eye, neck, and thigh.
"I was on the stage, lying down, with an enormous pool of blood all around me," he testified, describing it as "an enormous and expansive lake of blood." He also lifted the darkened lens of his glasses to reveal the wound to his eye, which has left him partially blind, noting the attacker's knife came "within millimeters from my brain."
Defense attorneys argued that Matar's attack was not terror-motivated and questioned the author about whether he should have anticipated a backlash to his controversial 1988 novel, *The Satanic Verses*.
"I don't believe the book is on trial," Rushdie responded. "Somebody else is on trial."
Matar is currently serving a 25-year sentence after being convicted of attempted murder by a state court in 2025. With this federal conviction, he could now face life in prison.
Rushdie's novel, inspired by the life of the Muslim Prophet Muhammad, provoked outrage among some Muslims who deemed its content blasphemous. He faced numerous death threats and was forced into hiding for nine years after Iran's religious leader issued a fatwa—or decree—calling for the author's death due to the book.
The British-Indian novelist later detailed his experience and lengthy recovery in a memoir titled *Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder*. Last year, he released his first work of fiction in years, *The Eleventh Hour*.