Accused assailant of author Salman Rushdie facing federal terrorism charges

Hadi Matar, 26, during an arraignment in federal court on Wednesday, pleaded not guilty to terrorism charges related to his alleged attempt to kill bestselling author Salman Rushdie. Rushdie survived the Aug. 12, 2022 assault. A federal grand jury earlier this month indicted Matar on charges of supporting a terrorist group and committing a terrorist act that transcended national boundaries.

How does this alleged attempt on Rushdie’s life equate to terrorism? Rushdie wrote the book The Satanic Verses in 1988, which many Muslims found blasphemous. In 1989, Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa calling for Rushdie’s death. The leader of the Lebanon-based terrorist group Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, endorsed that fatwa against Rushdie in 2006.

The DOJ alleges that Matar knew that Nasrallah had called for Rushdie’s death and that he was trying to support Hezbollah with his attempt on Rushdie’s life. The DOJ also alleges that Matar traveled from his home in Fairview, N.J. to Manhattan, N.Y. to try to kill Rushdie at one of his speaking engagements. If convicted, Matar faces life in prison, according to the DOJ.

Dig deeper: Read Travis K. Kircher’s report in The Sift about the memoir Rushdie penned chronicling the attack and his subsequent recovery.