Salman Rushdie stabbed during appearance in New York
August 12, 2022
Author Salman Rushdie, whose work has earned him death threats, was stabbed in the neck at a literary event in upstate New York Friday, when an assailant stormed the stage soon after his introduction.
Rushdie, who was scheduled to talk at the Chautauqua Institution in Chautauqua, N.Y., some 75 miles south of Buffalo, was rushed to a nearby hospital by helicopter, the New York State Police said in a statement. The author’s condition is unknown.
A New York Trooper assigned to the event immediately took the assailant into custody.
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A witness who was in the audience told The Post that Rushdie tried to run off the stage, and the two men scu
ffled before audience members rushed onstage to subdue the attacker.
“As this was happening, several members of the crowd were yelling fearfully and saying ‘he’s stabbing him!’” the audience member said.
The witness described the assailant as tall, and wearing a black hat and a mask.
Rushdie fell through a stage barrier following the attack, and witnesses told the Washington Post that they saw blood on the author’s hand.
Salman Rushdie preparing to be airlifted to a hospital after the attack.Horatio Gates
Salman Rushdie is tended to shortly after he was attacked during an appearance in New York.AP
Rushdie is the author of numerous novels, including “The Satanic Verses.”Grant Pollard/Invision/APRushdie was treated for apparent injuries on stage prior to being medevaced, and New York Governor Kathy Hochul said the author was “getting the care he needs” at a nearby hospital.
The Governor called the attack on Rushdie “heartbreaking.”
“Here’s an individual who has spent decades speaking truth to power, someone who has been out there unafraid, despite the threats that have followed him his entire adult life,” she said.
Blood is seen on a wall shortly after Rushdie was attacked.AP
Rushdie was stabbed in the neck during the vicious attack.Horatio GatesHochul commended the State Police for their quick response to the attack.
Rushdie’s work earned him death threats in the 1980s, when the Iranian government banned “The Satanic Verses,” which some Muslims consider blasphemous.
In 1989, Iranian leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a fatwa, or edict, calling for Rushdie’s death.
Author Salman Rushdie, behind screen left, is tended to after he was attacked during a lecture at the Chautauqua Institution in Chautauqua, NY.APThe Iranian government has since walked back the fatwa, but as recently as 2012 a semi-official religious organization inside Iran placed an over $3 million bounty on the author’s head.
The assailant’s motive was unclear on Friday, and police have not identified the attacker.
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