Alleged Salman Rushdie attacker charged with attempted second-degree murder, held with no bail
The man accused of attacking Salman Rushdie has been charged with attempted murder in the second degree along with second degree assault, reports said Saturday.
The 24-year-old Hadi Matar was arraigned in the upstate New York Chautauqua County Jail after he was transferred from New York State Police barracks in Jamestown following the Friday attack.
REPORTERS BANNED FROM SALMAN RUSHDIE ATTACKER ARRAIGNMENT
He has been remanded without bail.
County district attorney Jason Schmidt said state and federal officials in New York and New Jersey are still looking into whether there was any planning or preparations that Matar may have taken before the attack, which if found could in result in additional charges, according to Reuters.
Rushdie, who was stabbed in the neck, is unable to speak and was last reported to be on a ventilator.
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“The news is not good,” agent for Rushdie, Andrew Wylie, said Friday. “Salman will likely lose one eye; the nerves in his arm were severed; and his liver was stabbed and damaged.”
Rushdie was reportedly stabbed several times before police could subdue his attacker.
Matar was detained by state troopers after he allegedly ran on stage and stabbed the author during an event at the Chautauqua Institution.
Rushdie has been under threat of attack for decades following his 1989 book titled “The Satanic Verses,” which reportedly examined Islam through a critical lens and landed him a fatwa-ordered call for death from Ruhollah Khomeini, the former and first Supreme Leader of Iran.
Iran has also offered over $3 million in reward for anyone who kills Rushdie.
Fox News Adam Sabes, Andrew Mark Miller contributed to this report.
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