Salman Rushdie was on a ventilator, likely to lose one eye, and his liver was “stabbed and damaged” in an attack on Friday, according to his agent, who added that the “news is not good.”
According to the reporter, Rushdie’s agent, Andrew Wylie, the Mumbai-born controversial author was on a ventilator and could not speak. “The news is not good. Salman will likely lose one eye, the nerves in his arm were severed and his liver was stabbed and damaged,” Wylie said in a statement to the reporters.
Rushdie, who faced Islamist death threats for years after writing “The Satanic Verses,” was stabbed at an event in western New York State by a 24-year-old New Jersey resident.
Major Eugene Staniszewski of the New York State Police said at a press conference on Friday evening that Hadi Matar (24) of Fairview, New Jersey was the suspect who stabbed Rushdie.
Rushdie (75) was stabbed in the neck while performing on stage at the Chautauqua Institution, a not-for-profit community on Chautauqua Lake in southwestern New York State that has about 7,500 residents on any given day during the nine-week season.
According to Staniszewski, Rushdie was given medical attention by a doctor in the audience until emergency personnel arrived. “The doctor immediately began first aid” on Rushdie. The author was then airlifted to a local trauma centre and was “undergoing surgery” at around 5 p.m. local time, several hours after the 10:47 a.m. attack.
When asked about Matar’s nationality, Staniszewski replied, “I don’t know yet.” When asked how he would describe Rushdie’s condition, Staniszewski said, “We are trying to get an update and it is something that we are watching closely.” Authorities, he said, are in the “process of obtaining search warrants for various items. There was a backpack located at the scene. There was also electronic devices” He also stated that the suspect is currently thought to be “working alone.”
According to Staniszewski, the authorities have no indication of a motive “at this time. But we are working with the FBI, the Sheriff’s Office and we will determine what the cause of this was and what the motive for this attack was”.
Rushdie was set to speak at a special Chautauqua Lecture Series event on the theme “More than Shelter,” which would include a “discussion on the United States as an asylum for writers and other artists in exile and as a home for freedom of creative expression.”
He was joined by Henry Reese, co-founder of the Pittsburgh nonprofit City of Asylum, which runs the world’s largest residency programme for writers in exile who face persecution.
Rushdie and Reese (73) had just arrived on stage at the Chautauqua Institution for the event, according to Staniszewski, at approximately 10:47 a.m. local time. “Shortly thereafter, the suspect jumped onto the stage and attacked Rushdie, stabbing him at least once in the neck and at least once in the abdomen.”
Staniszewski stated that several members of the institution’s staff and audience members rushed the suspect and threw him to the ground. A trooper from the New York State Police, who was present at the institution, apprehended the suspect with the assistance of a Chautauqua County Sheriff’s deputy.
According to authorities, Reese was taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital, treated for facial injuries, and then released.
The Chautauqua County Sheriff’s Office and the FBI are assisting the State Police in their investigation. According to authorities, Chautauqua County District Attorney Jason Schmidt will determine “appropriate charges as the investigation continues.”
According to Michael Hill, president of the Chautauqua Institution, Rushdie and Reese, as well as their families, are “close in prayer at this hour.”
“What we experienced at Chautauqua today is an incident unlike anything in our nearly 150-year history. We were founded to bring people together in community, to learn and in doing so, create solutions through action, to develop empathy and to take on intractable problems. Today, we are called to take on fear and the worst of all human traits. Hate,” Hill stated.
Counter Extremism Project (CEP) CEO Ambassador Mark Wallace expressed his condolences to Rushdie and his family following the “senseless” attack on his life.
“Rushdie is a champion of free speech who has lived under the threat of assassination since the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, issued a fatwa against him in 1989. Despite the continuous calls for his execution by the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism, Rushdie has refused to be intimidated. His bravery and commitment to his values should be celebrated in this difficult moment.”