Who is Hadi Matar, the man dressed in black who attacked Salman Rushdie?
Hadi Matar, a 24-year-old New Jersey resident from Fairview, has been named as the suspect. The motive for the attack was unclear, State police Maj. Eugene Staniszewski said. But according to reports, Matar may have had sympathies for the Iranian government group.
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FollowMoments after author Salman Rushdie was attacked on Friday, authorities arrested the man who stabbed the author. New York Police identified the suspect as Hadi Matar, age 24, from Fairview, New Jersey. The reason for the incident is still under investigation.
"Hadi Matar, a 24-year-old New Jersey resident from Fairview, has been named as the suspect. The speaker Rushdie, 75, and Henry Reese, 73, arrived at the institution's stage earlier today at approximately 10:47 am. Shortly after, the suspect leaped from the stage and attacked, at least once in the neck and at least once in the abdomen," Major Eugene J. Staniszewski, the troop commander for the State Police, said during a press conference.
A inquiry of Matar's social media profiles found that he is sympathetic to Shia radicalism and the causes of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, according to a law enforcement source with direct knowledge of the inquiry, the NBC report added. There are no confirmed connections to the IRGC, but the official thinks that based on his initial impression, he is friendly to the Iranian government organisation.
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The police added that numerous audience members and members of the organisation promptly intervened in the situation and put the suspect to the ground.
After the stabbing, a physician in the crowd "immediately began first aid for Rushdie," according to Major Staniszewski. Little information about the suspect was made public by the authorities.
Earlier, in Western New York state, Salman Rushdie, who received death threats because of his novel "The Satanic Verses," was "stabbed" on stage. The author is alive and has been taken to a nearby hospital, according to earlier statements from New York Governor Kathy Hochul.
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"He has been evacuated to safety while still alive. The event moderator was also assaulted; he is receiving the necessary medical care at a nearby hospital," she said.
Prior to a speech at the Chautauqua Institution in Chautauqua, the New York State Police reported that a man suspect went up onto the platform and assaulted Rushdie. According to the report, the author apparently had a neck stab wound and was flown by chopper to a nearby hospital. According to the authorities, Rushdie's interviewer was also attacked during the event and sustained a slight head injury.
The 75-year-old novelist, who gained fame in 1981 for his book "Midnight's Children," had a fatwa issued for his 1988 publication. The Satanic Verses novel prompted Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the then-Iranian revolutionary leader, to issue a fatwa, or religious order. He spent several years in hiding as a result of the danger.
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