Hadi Matar convicted of federal terrorism charges for the 2022 stabbing of author Salman Rushdie; faces life in prison

Hadi Matar, 28, was convicted in a New York federal court of federal terrorism charges related to the August 2022 stabbing of author Salman Rushdie. The jury found Matar guilty of engaging in transnational terrorism and providing material support to Hezbollah, a US-designated terrorist organization.¹²

Matar's attack on Rushdie, who was about to speak on writers' safety, left the author with 15 stab wounds and resulted in the loss of sight in his right eye. The jury deliberated for just two hours before reaching a verdict, capping a trial that began the previous week.³⁷⁸

Evidence presented during the trial revealed that Matar had spent over a year researching the fatwa against Rushdie, which was issued by Iranian religious leaders over 35 years ago due to his novel, The Satanic Verses. Matar was motivated by a speech from Hezbollah's chief, Hassan Nasrallah, endorsing the fatwa.⁹¹⁰

Matar had previously been convicted of attempted murder in state court and is currently serving a 25-year prison sentence. His federal conviction carries a potential life sentence, with sentencing scheduled for November 3. Prosecutors argued that Matar shared propaganda videos and communicated with an Iran-based contact before the attack, indicating a premeditated effort to fulfill the fatwa.⁴⁵⁶

“The defendant decided no one was going to do it, so he had to do it,” Assistant US Attorney Timothy Lynch stated during closing arguments. Rushdie, who was left gravely wounded, described the aftermath of the attack, saying, “I was on the stage, lying down, with an enormous pool of blood all around me.”