US jury convicts man on terror charges for stabbing that gravely wounded Salman Rushdie

Hadi Matar is charged with attempted murder and assault for attacking Mr. Rushdie as he was preparing to give a speech in August 2022, stabbing him more than a dozen times. NEW YORK -- A federal jury on Wednesday convicted novelist Salman Rushdie's assailant of "engaging in an act of terrorism" for the bloody August 2022 attack at a New York cultural centre.

Pro-Hezbollah assailant found guilty on all counts relating to 2022 attack that prosecutor says was 'a chilling reminder of the global reach of Iranian terrorism' The post US jury convicts man on terror charges for stabbing that gravely wounded Salman Rushdie appeared first on The Times of Israel. A man was convicted Wednesday of federal terrorism charges in the 2022 stabbing of Salman Rushdie, the author who has faced a decades-old death threat over his novel "The Satanic Verses." FILE - Hadi Matar walks in to the Chautauqua County court in Mayville, N.Y., May, 16, 2025.

(AP Photo/Adrian Kraus, File) FILE - Hadi Matar walks in to the Chautauqua County court in Mayville, N.Y., May, 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Adrian Kraus, File) A man was convicted Wednesday of federal terrorism charges in the 2022 stabbing of Salman Rushdie, the author who has faced a decades-old death threat over his novel “The Satanic Verses.” After just a couple of hours of deliberations, a jury found Hadi Matar guilty of all the charges against him, including engaging in an act of transnational terrorism. Rushdie, who was about to speak on writers’ safety, was slashed 15 times on an amphitheater stage in 2022.

He was gravely wounded and lost the sight in his right eye. Prosecutors asserted that Matar was motivated by the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini ’s 1989 call for Rushdie’s death because of “The Satanic Verses.” “His brutal attack on Mr. Rushdie during a peaceful speaking event is a chilling reminder of the global reach of Iranian terrorism,” Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Eisenberg said in a statement after the verdict, adding that “justice has been done.” Iran’s government has denied involvement in the attack.

Matar’s defense: No evidence of his state of mind Messages seeking comment on the verdict were sent to Matar’s attorneys and Rushdie’s assistant. During the trial, defense lawyer Nathaniel Barone said the government had no proof of what was in Matar’s head. Rushdie did, telling jurors: “I can’t say what his ambitions or his aim was, but the wounds were dispersed across my body.” Matar, 28, is already serving a 25-year New York state prison sentence on an attempted murder conviction in the stabbing.

His federal sentencing is set for Nov. 3, when he faces a potential life term. Rushdie won Britain’s prestigious Booker Prize for his 1981 novel “Midnight’s Children,” about his native India.