The man responsible for the 2022 onstage stabbing of renowned author Salman Rushdie has been sentenced to 25 years in prison, according to the district attorney. The attack, which occurred at a cultural event in western New York, also injured another man.
Hadi Matar, 27, from Fairview, New Jersey, was convicted in February by a Chautauqua County court jury for attempted second-degree murder and second-degree assault. He received a 25-year sentence for the attempted murder of Rushdie and a concurrent 7-year sentence for assaulting Henry Reese, co-founder of Pittsburgh’s City of Asylum, who was also present on stage at the time.
Rushdie, 77, suffered severe injuries, including stab wounds to his head, neck, torso, and hand. The assault left him blind in his right eye and caused damage to his liver and intestines, necessitating emergency surgery and a prolonged recovery.
Rushdie has faced threats since the release of The Satanic Verses in 1988, which Iran’s then-supreme leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini denounced as blasphemous, issuing a fatwa calling for the author’s death. After years in hiding, Rushdie had recently begun re-engaging with public life.
The attack was partially captured on video, showing Matar charging the stage as Rushdie was being introduced. During the trial, prosecutors presented this footage to the jury over seven days of testimony.
“Matar has left Mr. Rushdie traumatised. He continues to suffer from nightmares,” said District Attorney Jason Schmidt. “It’s a devastating blow for someone who had just started to re-enter public life.”
Matar did not testify during the trial. His defense argued that prosecutors had failed to establish the intent to kill required for an attempted murder conviction and claimed that Matar should have faced lesser assault charges instead. His lawyer, Nathaniel Barone, confirmed that an appeal will be filed, stating, “If he had the chance to undo this, he would.”
In addition to the state charges, Matar faces separate federal charges, including attempted murder as an act of terrorism. U.S. prosecutors allege that he provided material support to Hezbollah, a U.S.-designated terrorist organization. He is expected to face a separate trial in Buffalo for those charges.
