The man who was convicted of trying to kill bestselling author and free speech advocate, Salman Rushie, has now learned his sentence. On Friday, in Chautauqua County (New York) court, the judge handed down the maximum sentence to the attacker, Hadi Matar, who repeatedly slashed Rushie with a knife in an attempt to kill him, in the moments before the author was set to speak during at a 2022 cultural event in New York state. Rushdie was at first in critical condition, and the horrific attack left him blind in his left eye.

During sentencing, the judge told the would-be assassin, who was convicted of attempted murder in Feb. for the attack at a Western NY, culture center called the Chautauqua Institution, the reason he was imposing the full sentence requested by prosecutors:

Judge David W. Foley, who presided over the case in Chautauqua County court, told Mr. Matar that his assault had been against not only a man, but also the right to free expression.

“It goes to the very heart of what our country stands for,” Judge Foley said.

He said a 25-year sentence was necessary to prevent Mr. Matar from committing additional attacks, whether against Mr. Rushdie or someone else.

As RedState wrote on Aug. 12, 2022, the day of the attempted murder:

Rushdie was stabbed in the neck and in the abdomen. He was airlifted to the hospital where he was undergoing surgery.

...

The doctor who was in the audience and attended to him on the stage, Dr. Martin Haskell, described the wounds as “serious but recoverable,” which is good news.

...

The Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini declared a fatwa in 1989, calling for Rushdie’s death for writing his book, “The Satanic Verses,” which the Ayatollah declared blasphemous. Iran’s present “Supreme Leader” Ayatollah Khameini reminded everyone in 2019 the fatwa was still on.

RELATED: Salman Rushdie Attacker Identified, as IRGC Makes Threat Against Trump, Bolton

The report continued:

Mr. Rushdie testified at the outset of the trial, telling jurors that he had been stabbed and slashed more than a dozen times before bystanders pulled Mr. Matar off him.

“It occurred to me quite clearly that I was dying,” he said. “And that was my predominant thought.”

The radical Muslim attacker, who did not testify during the trial, was given the opportunity to address the court before sentencing, showing in his self-righteous statement that he feels no remorse for his violent actions:

...Mr. Matar said he believed in a “difference between attacking things that are sacred and freedom and speech.”

He said he valued respect, and that Mr. Rushdie “wants to disrespect other people.”

Nathaniel L. Barone II, Matar's attorney, called out the potential maximum sentence as "harsh and excessive," while asking the judge to be lenient and only impose a 12-year sentence, insisting that his client was only 24 years old when the attack happened and did not have a criminal record.

Matar also injured the founder of the center in Chautauqua, Ralph Henry Reese, who was moderating the talk where Rushdie was scheduled to speak--ironically--on working to keep free speech artists and writers safe from persecution. Reese tried to shield the author from Matar's melee. The attacker was sentenced to a seven-year sentence for the assault, but he will serve that concurrently with the 25-year imprisonment.

The report also included quotes from an interview by the attacker, which hinted at his motive:

Mr. Matar has told The New York Post that he acted alone, motivated by a dislike of Mr. Rushdie and his belief that the author had “attacked Islam.” Before the attack, he had become increasingly isolated and fixated on the religion, his family said. He had been living in New Jersey and working at a clothing store.

Even though prosecutors had not submitted evidence about Mr. Matar’s motives, Judge Foley said it was impossible to ignore the context in which the attack occurred.

Rushdie has written several memoirs in the years following the fatwa, "Joseph Anton: A Memoir" in 2013, and "Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder" in 2024, following the attack.  

The road to justice doesn't end here. Matar will still face federal charges relating to terrorism; the trial date has not been set. As this is a developing story, RedState will keep you posted on updates to the information.

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