A day after Salman Rushdie was stabbed Friday by a man who rushed the stage as the author was about to give a lecture in western New York, authorities announced Saturday the suspect was charged with attempted murder.
Hadi Matar, 24, of Fairview, New Jersey, was formally charged with attempted murder in the second degree and assault in the second degree, Chautauqua County District Attorney Jason Schmidt said in a statement. Matar was arraigned Friday night and remanded without bail, he said.
Rushdie, 75, was flown to a hospital and underwent surgery after the attack. His agent, Andrew Wylie, said Friday night he author is currently on a ventilator and cannot speak. He said Rushdie will likely lose an eye, adding that the nerves in his arm were "severed" and his liver was "stabbed and damaged."
"We are working closely with State Police, our local police agencies and federal law enforcement partners to fully develop the evidence," Schmidt said Saturday. "We have been in touch with our counterparts in the State of New Jersey where the attacker is from to share information and assist them in helping us to better understand the planning and preparation which preceded the attack so that we and the different agencies involved can determine what, if any, additional charges should be asserted."
Matar was born in the United States to Lebanese parents who emigrated from Yaroun, a border village in southern Lebanon, Mayor Ali Tehfe told The Associated Press.
His birth was a decade after the publishing of "The Satanic Verses" — Rushdie's 1988 novel that drew death threats from Iran's leader decades ago.
The motive for the attack was unclear, State Police Maj. Eugene Staniszewski said.
An official from Iran-backed Lebanese armed group Hezbollah told Reuters on Saturday the group doesn't "know anything" about the suspect and decline comment.
Matar, like other visitors, had obtained a pass to enter the Chautauqua Institution's 750-acre grounds, Michael Hill, the institution's president, said.
The suspect's attorney, public defender Nathaniel Barone, said he was still gathering information and declined to comment. Matar's home was blocked off by authorities.
WNY News Now captured video of Matar being transferred to the Chautauqua County jail late Friday night from the New York State Police barracks in Jamestown.
"The Satanic Verses" was viewed as blasphemous by many Muslims, who saw a character as an insult to the Prophet Muhammad, among other objections. The book was banned in Iran, where the late leader Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a 1989 fatwa, or edict, calling for Rushdie's death.
Iran's theocratic government and its state-run media assigned no rationale for Friday's assault. In Tehran, some Iranians interviewed Saturday by the AP praised the attack on an author they believe tarnished the Islamic faith, while others worried it would further isolate their country.