Authorities said Salman Rushdie, the novelist whose book prompted death threats from Iran in the 1980s, was stabbed as he prepared to deliver a lecture in western New York on Friday. Rushdie “suffered an apparent knife wound to the neck and was transferred by helicopter to a local hospital,” according to a statement from state police.
A state trooper assigned to the event apprehended the offender, according to authorities.
As Rushdie was being presented, an Associated Press reporter saw a guy assault the stage at the Chautauqua Institution and begin hitting him. The 75-year-old author was assaulted or tripped and restrained by the stranger.
Assault on Salman Rushdie
Salman Rushdie is being treated after being assaulted during a speech at the Chautauqua Institution in Chautauqua, New York, on Friday, August 12, 2022.
Rushdie was shortly encircled by a small group of people who held up his legs, apparently to increase the flow of blood to his heart.
Rushdie’s health was unknown at the time.
According to police, the suspect also assaulted an interrogator, who sustained a minor head injury.
A video purportedly showing the aftermath of the incident was shared on social media.
Hundreds of individuals in the crowd were removed after gasping at the sight of the assault.
Following the incident, New York Governor Kathy Hochul tweeted, “Our sympathies are with Salman and his loved ones.”
According to the Chautauqua Institution, Rushdie attended the event to address “the United States as a shelter for authors and other artists in exile and as a haven for freedom of creative expression.”
“We are in the midst of an emergency. I am unable to provide any further information at this time “According to a spokeswoman for the Chautauqua Institution,
Rushdie’s novel “The Satanic Verses” has been prohibited in Iran since 1988 because it is considered blasphemous by many Muslims. Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Iran’s late leader, issued a fatwa, or decree, calling for Rushdie’s execution a year later.
Although Iran’s government has long distanced itself from Khomeini’s proclamation, anti-Rushdie feeling remained. Rushdie’s reward was increased from $2.8 million to $3.3 million in 2012 by a semi-official Iranian religious group.
Rushdie rejected the threat at the time, claiming that there was “no proof” that anybody were interested in the money. Rushdie wrote a book, “Joseph Anton,” that year about his experiences living under the fatwa.
Rushdie, Salman
On October 12, 2017, author Salman Rushdie attended the Frankfurt Book Fair in Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
Rushdie addressed the deaths of 12 people at the Paris satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in 2015, stating that the freedom to free expression must be total or it is not free.
“Both John F. Kennedy and Nelson Mandela utilize the same three-word slogan, ‘Freedom is Indivisible,’” he remarked. “You can’t cut it apart because then it’s no longer free. You may oppose Charlie Hebdo. But your distaste for them has nothing to do with their freedom to speak.”
This is an ongoing narrative that will be updated.