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

As we reported earlier, author Salman Rushdie was stabbed on Friday morning in Chautauqua, New York where he was about to give a lecture. He was on stage when a man dressed in black rushed onto the stage and began stabbing and beating him.

That man has now been identified as Hadi Matar, 24, of Fairview, New Jersey.

JUST IN: Author Salman Rushdie's alleged attacker has been identified as 24-year-old Hadi Matar, officials say. Rushdie was stabbed "at least once in the neck and at least once in the abdomen." https://t.co/TML9Ty3QS0 pic.twitter.com/3W3xcZtZUs

— ABC News (@ABC) August 12, 2022

He was taken down by people in the audience and then arrested.

Rushdie attacker is Hadi Matar, ‘New Jersey man with sympathies toward the Iranian government’ https://t.co/rOhywzQtmK pic.twitter.com/nI12281WUS

— Robert Spencer روبرت سبنسر रॉबर्ट स्पेंसर 🇺🇸 (@jihadwatchRS) August 12, 2022

His Facebook had a lot of Iranian connections with pictures of the Ayatollah and Qasem Soleimani. According to the NY Post, Matar made posts in support of Iran and its Revolutionary Guard, and in support of Shi’a extremism more broadly.

.@nyspolice are working to obtain search warrants for properties associated with suspected Rushdie attacker Hadi Matar to help further the investigation. Matar had a pass to be on the grounds of the Chautauqua Institution

— Aaron Katersky (@AaronKatersky) August 12, 2022

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

Salman Rushdie was taken to the hospital by medical helicopter.
Author Salman Rushdie was stabbed after taking stage at a Chautauqua Institute event.

This man has been detained by police.-#NYPD #SalmanRushdie #Newyork pic.twitter.com/M2xt3nicbh

— Chaudhary Parvez (@ChaudharyParvez) August 12, 2022

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.

Event moderator Henry Reese, 73, a co-founder of an organization that offers residencies to writers facing persecution, was also attacked. Reese suffered a facial injury and was treated and released from a hospital, police said. He and Rushdie were due to discuss the United States as a refuge for writers and other artists in exile.

A state trooper and a county sheriff’s deputy were assigned to Rushdie’s lecture, and state police said the trooper made the arrest. But after the attack, some longtime visitors to the center questioned why there wasn’t tighter security for the event, given the decades of threats against Rushdie and a bounty on his head offering more than $3 million for anyone who kills him.

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.

Reminder:
In February 2019, the office of #Iran‘s dictator Ali Khamenei reiterated the fatwa calling for Rushdie’s assassination, repeating the terms “solid & irrevocable” that Khamenei used in 1990.

Another reminder:
Iran is the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism. pic.twitter.com/85PH6zpoGy

— Heshmat Alavi (@HeshmatAlavi) August 12, 2022

There is currently a $3.3 million bounty on Rushdie’s head. He went into hiding for years because of it and had security, but in the last several years has been going without security. He said that the only way you defeat terrorism is “by deciding not to be afraid.”

At least 45 people were killed in riots over the book, including 12 people in Rushdie’s hometown of Mumbai. In 1991, a Japanese translator of the book was stabbed to death and an Italian translator survived a knife attack. In 1993, the book’s Norwegian publisher was shot three times and survived.

The IRGC also has acknowledged the attack and threatened both President Donald Trump and John Bolton “even if many years pass.”

#UPDATE #Iran's IRGC Telegram channel has just posted this video of Khomeini's "historic ruling" for the killing of Salman Rushdie.

"When the date and time comes, Trump & Bolton will see the fate as Salman Rushdie. Even if many years pass…" the IRGC Telegram post adds. pic.twitter.com/IrJPXnBupm

— Heshmat Alavi (@HeshmatAlavi) August 12, 2022

The fatwa is older than the attacker.

A couple of days ago, we reported on the charging of Iranian operative who plotted to kill Bolton. IRGC also hates Trump because he took out Qasem Soleimani.