“He’s off the ventilator, so the road to recovery has begun,” Rushdie’s agent, Andrew Wylie, told CNN on Sunday. “It will be long, the injuries are serious. But his condition is going in the right direction.”
The 75-year-old award-winning author, whose writings have drawn death threats against him for decades, was preparing to give a lecture at the Chautauqua institution on Friday when a man jumped on stage and stabbed Rushdie in several places, including the neck. and the stomach. Staff members and guests took the stage and restrained the suspect, identified as Hadi Matar, 24, of Fairview, New Jersey, before a state trooper assigned to the event took him into custody, according to the ‘state of New York. Police.
The perpetrator’s injuries included three stab wounds to the right side of the front of the neck, four stab wounds to the stomach, stab wounds to the right eye and chest and a laceration to the right thigh, the district attorney said Saturday of Chautauqua County Jason Schmidt. during the prosecution of Matar.
Rushdie was taken to a hospital after the attack and underwent surgery, police said. The perpetrator may end up losing his right eye, Schmidt said.
The author began speaking again Saturday after being put on a ventilator earlier, Wylie previously told the New York Times, adding that the attack left Rushdie with liver and nerve damage.
Another speaker at the event, Ralph Henry Reese, 73, suffered a minor head injury during the attack. He was taken to hospital in an ambulance and later released with a facial injury.
The suspect has pleaded not guilty
Matar pleaded not guilty to charges of attempted second-degree murder and second-degree assault with intent to inflict bodily injury with a deadly weapon, his public defender, Nathaniel Barone, told CNN on Saturday.
The attorney said Matar has been “very cooperative” and has communicated openly, but would not discuss what was said during those conversations.
Matar was denied bail and sent to the Chautauqua County Jail. His next court appearance is Friday.
He faces up to 32 years if convicted of both charges, Schmidt said.
The FBI is now working with local and international authorities to investigate the attack on the Chautauqua institution, which happened in front of an audience while Rushdie was performing.
One witness, Joyce Lussier, was sitting in the second row when she saw a man jump across the stage and lunge at Rushdie. He heard people screaming and crying, he told CNN, and saw people in the audience coming up on stage.
Another witness, Stephen Davies, who captured video of the moments just after Rushdie was attacked, said he could not tell if the attacker had a knife in his hand.
“He lunged at Mr Rushdie and started hitting him with his hand, very quickly,” Davies said. “I was completely shocked and appalled.”
Authorities have not released the specific type of weapon that was used in the attack.
The suspect was given a pass at the event which now faces questions about its security procedures
The suspect arrived at Chautauqua at least a day before the event and bought a pass to the event two days earlier, Schmidt said during Matar’s appearance.
Matar traveled to Chautauqua by bus and had cash, prepaid Visa cards and fake identification with him, said Schmidt, who called the stabbing a “directed, planned and unprovoked attack on Mr. Rushdie.”
There were no security searches or metal detectors at the event, a person who witnessed the attack told CNN. The witness is not being identified because he expressed concern for his personal safety.
This has raised questions about security precautions at the host institution.
The institution’s leadership had rejected recommendations for basic security measures, such as bag checks and metal detectors, out of fear it would create a divide between the speakers and the audience, according to two sources who spoke to CNN under condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. .
The institution’s president, Michael Hill, defended his organization’s security plans when asked during a press conference on Friday if there would be more precautions at future events.
“We evaluate for each event what we think is the appropriate level of security, and certainly that was what we thought was important, which is why we had a state police and sheriff presence,” Hill said . “We will assess for each of the Institution’s events what we believe is the appropriate level of security and this is an ongoing process in which we work in conjunction with local law enforcement.”
Matar, who authorities say has no documented criminal history, was described as a quiet person who kept to himself. CNN spoke exclusively with State of Fitness Boxing Club owner Desmond Boyle, who said Matar signed up at the gym in North Bergen, New Jersey in April.
“You know that look, that ‘it’s the worst day of your life’? He came in every day like that,” Boyle told CNN on Saturday.
As the investigation continued, police were seen Friday evening at the New Jersey home believed to be connected to the suspect.
Rushdie had a bounty on his mind
Rushdie’s writings have won him several literary awards, but it was his fourth novel, The Satanic Verses, that drew the greatest scrutiny, as some Muslims found the book sacrilegious. The book, which sparked protests, was banned in several countries.
The late Iranian leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who described the book as an insult to Islam and the Prophet Muhammad, issued a religious decree, or fatwa, calling for Rushdie’s death in 1989.
As a result, Rushdie began a decade under British protection.
The bounty against Rushdie has never been lifted, although in 1998 the Iranian government tried to distance itself from the fatwa by promising not to try to carry it out.
However, in 2017, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was asked if the “fatwa against Rushdie was still in force”, and confirmed that it was, saying: “The decree is such as issued by Imam Khomeini.”
CNN’s Kiely Westhoff, Andy Rose, Paul P. Murphy, Aya Elamroussi, Ray Sanchez, Christina Maxouris, Artemis Moshtaghian, Sara Smart, Samantha Beech and Liam Reilly contributed to this report.