MAYVILLE, USA — Hadi Matar, the man who brutally attacked and stabbed author Salman Rushdie during a 2022 lecture in western New York, has been found guilty of attempted murder following an eight-day trial in Chautauqua County Court.
Matar, 27, was convicted for rushing onto the stage at the Chautauqua Institution and stabbing the 77-year-old writer more than a dozen times, leaving him partially blind.
The attack, which took place as Rushdie was preparing to speak, shocked literary and free speech communities worldwide.
Rushdie’s Testimony and Harrowing Account of the Attack
During the trial, Rushdie took the stand, recounting the terrifying moments when he realized he was being stabbed.
“I initially thought he was hitting me with a fist,” he told the court.
“But I saw a large quantity of blood pouring onto my clothes. He was hitting me repeatedly. Hitting and slashing.”
Rushdie suffered severe injuries to his neck, stomach, chest, hand, and right eye, requiring months of recovery.
He later documented his experience in the 2023 memoir Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder.
Defense Claims vs. Prosecution’s Case
Matar, a dual American and Lebanese citizen, had pleaded not guilty to charges of attempted murder and assault.
His defense attorney, Andrew Brautigam, argued that the prosecution failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Matar intended to kill Rushdie.
Brautigam pointed out that no extensive investigation into Matar’s background had been conducted and noted that Rushdie himself referred to the incident as an “assault” rather than an “attempted murder.”
However, Chautauqua County District Attorney Jason Schmidt countered by presenting slow-motion footage of the attack, which he said showed clear intent to kill.
“I want you to look at the unprovoked nature of this attack,” Schmidt told the jury.
“I want you to look at the targeted nature of the attack. There were a lot of people around that day, but there was only one person who was targeted.”
Matar declined to testify in his own defense. He has been held without bail since his arrest in 2022.
It was an emotional return to the stage for PEN America’s former president—introduced by @ayadakhtar as “our beloved Salman Rushdie”—who for decades has been a tireless defender of persecuted writers & the freedom to write while himself living under a death threat for his writing pic.twitter.com/HTzW0SQyPr
— PEN America (@PENamerica) May 19, 2023
Verdict Reached Swiftly
The courtroom was packed as attorneys presented their closing arguments on Friday, February 21, 2025.
The jury deliberated for only a short period before returning with a guilty verdict.
Matar now faces a lengthy prison sentence, though the exact term will be determined at a later sentencing hearing.
The conviction marks a significant moment in the aftermath of the attack, reinforcing concerns about threats to free speech and the ongoing dangers faced by writers, particularly those like Rushdie, who has lived under the shadow of a decades-old fatwa issued by Iran’s former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini.
Rushdie has not yet commented publicly on the verdict, but his supporters and literary figures have expressed relief at the ruling, hoping it brings a measure of justice after an attack that sent shockwaves around the world.
