Salman Rushdie testifies at attacker’s terrorism trial

Thursday marked the second day of a federal terrorism trial for the 28-year-old man convicted of brutally attacking award-winning author Salman Rushdie with a knife in 2022. The 79-year-old novelist took the stand for just over an hour and recounted the attack for the court, according to the Associated Press.

Defendant Hadi Matar charged Rushdie during an onstage speaking event and stabbed the author a total of 15 times across his head, neck, and stomach. The Indian-born British-American author survived the attack but ultimately lost an eye. A New York jury convicted Matar on state charges of attempted murder in February 2025, for which he received 25 years in prison. Matar went on trial this week for the second time for terrorism charges over the 2022 attack.

What did Rushdie say on the stand? The author described the attack, his wounds, and his lengthy recovery for a second time before the court. Rushdie stated that the knife penetrated a millimeter from his brain and left him blind in his right eye. Matar’s attack also damaged Rushdie’s liver, temporarily paralyzed his left hand, and briefly left the author on a ventilator, the Associated Press reported, citing Rushdie’s testimony. Matar appeared to look down at the table during Rushdie’s testimony and only looked at Rushdie as the author left the court, the Associated Press reported.

From what do the terrorism charges originate? Prosecutors believed Matar attacked Rushdie over the author’s portrayal of the so-called Islamic prophet Muhammad in his 1988 novel, The Satanic Verses. Many Muslims took offense to the work after its release, and the late Iranian Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini at the time even put a more than $3 million bounty on Rushdie’s head.

Prosecutors argued that Matar carried out the attack out of allegiance to Iran and the Iran-funded terror group Hezbollah, an argument which formed the basis of his transnational terror charges. Matar's legal team argued that prosecutors can’t prove the 28-year-old's mindset or motives during the attack, rendering terror charges baseless. Prosecutors cited photo evidence and other materials collected from Matar’s home and electronics showing the attacker’s admiration of Hezbollah.

Rushdie told the court that he suspected Matar of harboring terrorism ties, but admitted he did not know for certain. Matar’s attorney repeatedly pressed Rushdie on whether the author had anticipated backlash over the book. Rushdie ultimately noted that the book was not on trial here, which the judge struck from the court record, according to the Associated Press.

Matar never formally confirmed that he acted on the 1989 order. Matar voiced his dislike for Rushdie during a 2022 jailhouse interview with The New York Post after the attack, and accused the author of attacking Islam. Matar refrained from testifying at his last trial, and it remained unclear whether he planned to take the stand in the new trial.