Salman Rushdie’s Attacker to Be Sentenced for Attempted Murder

Author Salman Rushdie’s assailant to be sentenced for attempted murder following high-profile 2022 attack in New York.

Hadi Matar, the man convicted of the violent onstage attack against acclaimed novelist Salman Rushdie, is set to be sentenced on Wednesday. The sentencing comes four months after a jury found Matar guilty of second-degree attempted murder in connection with the August 2022 assault that left the author partially blind and severely injured.

The sentencing hearing will take place in Chautauqua County, New York—just a short distance from where the incident occurred during a literary event hosted by the Chautauqua Institution. The 27-year-old suspect faces up to 25 years in prison for the attack.

Rushdie, 77, was delivering a talk centered on the theme of "home" and the protection of free expression when Matar stormed the stage. Armed with a knife, Matar stabbed Rushdie approximately 15 times in front of a live audience, causing life-altering injuries, including blindness in his right eye and damage to his liver and intestines.

Born in India to a Muslim Kashmiri family, Rushdie has long been a controversial literary figure. Since the publication of The Satanic Verses in 1988—a novel inspired in part by the life of the Prophet Muhammad—Rushdie has lived under the threat of violence. The book drew a harsh response from Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who issued a fatwa calling for Rushdie’s death.

In a post-arrest interview with the New York Post, Matar expressed his animosity toward Rushdie, accusing him of insulting Islam. “I don’t like the person,” Matar said. “He’s someone who attacked Islam and their belief systems.”

During the trial, Matar’s defense team argued that prosecutors had failed to prove the necessary criminal intent for a conviction of attempted murder. They contended that the charges should have been limited to assault. However, the jury ultimately rejected that argument, delivering a guilty verdict.

Rushdie recounted the traumatic experience in court, describing how he was suddenly rushed by a man dressed in dark clothes. Initially thinking he had been punched, Rushdie soon realized he was bleeding profusely. “I was stabbed repeatedly, and most painfully in my eye,” he testified. “I held up my hand in self-defense and was stabbed through that.”

The quick action of bystanders and security personnel is credited with saving Rushdie’s life. The attack also left Henry Reese, the event’s co-speaker, with a head wound.

In addition to the current case, Matar is expected to face a separate federal trial on terrorism-related charges in Buffalo.

Following his lengthy recovery, Rushdie detailed the incident in his memoir Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder. Later this year, he is set to release The Eleventh Hour, a fictional work exploring themes of mortality, loss, and cultural memory.