Salman Rushdie, the author whose writing prompted death threats from Iran in the 1980s, was attacked and apparently stabbed in the neck on Friday (Saturday morning AEST) by a man who rushed the stage as he was about to give a lecture in western New York. .
An Associated Press reporter witnessed a man confront Rushdie on stage at the Chautauqua Institution and begin punching or stabbing him 10 to 15 times as he was being introduced. The 75-year-old perpetrator was pushed or fell to the ground and a state trooper at the scene took the suspect into custody, the NYPD said.
Rushdie was taken by helicopter to a hospital, police said. His condition was not immediately known. The moderator of the event was also assaulted and suffered a minor head injury, police said.
Rushdie was taken by helicopter to a hospital, police said. His condition was not immediately known (Grant Pollard/Invision/AP)
New York Governor Kathy Hochul told reporters that Rushdie is “alive” and “getting the care he needs.” He said a state trooper “stepped up and saved his life and protected him as well as the moderator who was also attacked.
“Here is an individual who has spent decades speaking truth to power,” the governor said of Rushdie. “Someone who has stood there without fear, despite the threats that have followed him throughout his adult life it seems.”
Some people in the audience ran to help Rushdie, while others chased the attacker, the witness said.
Another witness told CNN there were no security searches or metal detectors at the event. The witness said the assailant “walked quickly” down an aisle and jumped onto the stage, approaching the perpetrator and “making a stabbing motion with his hand repeatedly.”
Rabbi Charles Savenor was among the approximately 2,500 people in the audience. Amid gasps, the spectators were ushered out of the outdoor amphitheater.
The assailant ran onto the platform “and started hitting Mr Rushdie. At first you’re like, ‘What’s going on?’ And then it was very clear within seconds that he was being hit,” Savenor said. He said the attack lasted about 20 seconds.
Another bystander, Kathleen Jones, said the attacker was dressed in black, wearing a black mask.
“We thought maybe it was part of a stunt to show that there’s still a lot of controversy surrounding this author. But within seconds it became clear” that it wasn’t, he said.
A bloodied Rushdie was quickly surrounded by a small group of people who lifted his legs, presumably to send more blood to his chest.
Rushdie and moderator Henry Reese were set to discuss “the United States as an asylum for writers and other artists in exile and as a home for creative freedom of expression” (AP)
In a statement, the nonprofit education and summer center said it is “coordinating with law enforcement and emergency officials on a public response following today’s attack on Salman Rushdie on stage at Chautauqua Amphitheater.”
Writers such as Stephen King and JK Rowling expressed their well wishes for Rushdie via Twitter.
Rushdie has been a prominent spokesman for free speech and liberal causes. He is a past president of PEN America, who said he was “reeling from shock and horror” at the attack.
“We cannot think of any comparable incident of a public violent attack against a literary writer on American soil,” CEO Suzanne Nossel said in a statement.
“Salman Rushdie has been the target of his words for decades, but he has never flinched or flinched,” he added.
His 1988 book The Satanic Verses was viewed as blasphemous by many Muslims. Often violent protests against Rushdie erupted around the world, including a riot that killed 12 people in Mumbai.
The novel was banned in Iran, where the late leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a 1989 fatwa, or edict, calling for Rushdie’s death. Khomeini died that same year.
Iran’s current supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has never issued a fatwa of his own to withdraw the edict, although Iran in recent years has not focused on the writer .
His 1988 book The Satanic Verses was seen as blasphemous by many Muslims (Steven Siewert/Fairfax Media)
Iran’s mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday’s attack.
A reward of more than $3 million ($4.22 million) has also been offered for anyone who kills Rushdie.
Death threats and a bounty led Rushdie to go into hiding under a British government protection program, including a 24-hour armed guard. Rushdie emerged after nine years in seclusion and cautiously resumed more public appearances, keeping his criticism open to religious extremism in general.
He has said he is proud of his fight for free speech, saying in a 2012 talk in New York that terrorism is really the art of fear.
Rushdie rose to prominence with his Booker Prize-winning 1981 novel Midnight’s Children, but his name became known around the world after The Satanic Verses (Getty)
“The only way to beat it is by choosing not to be afraid,” he said.
Iran’s government has long since distanced itself from Khomeini’s decree, but anti-Rushdie sentiment has endured. The Censorship Index, an organization that promotes free expression, said money was raised to increase the reward for his murder as recently as 2016, stressing that the fatwa on his death still stands.
In 2012, Rushdie published a memoir, Joseph Anton, about the fatwa. The title comes from the pseudonym Rushdie had used while in hiding.
Rushdie rose to prominence with his 1981 Booker Prize-winning novel, Midnight’s Children, but his name became known around the world after The Satanic Verses.
Rushdie is the author of 13 novels (Frank May/dpa via AP)
The Chautauqua Institution, about 120 miles southwest of Buffalo in a rural corner of New York, has served for more than a century as a place of reflection and spiritual guidance.
Visitors do not pass through metal detectors or undergo baggage checks. Most people leave the doors of their centuries-old houses open at night.
Police said a state trooper was assigned to Rushdie’s conference.
The Chautauqua Center is known for its summer lecture series, where Rushdie has spoken before. Speakers cover a different topic each week.
Rushdie and moderator Henry Reese were set to talk about “the United States as an asylum for writers and other artists in exile and as a home for creative freedom of expression.”