A federal jury convicted a New Jersey man on terrorism charges on Wednesday for attempting to murder author Salman Rushdie in 2022 in support of Hezbollah and an Iranian fatwa calling for the novelist’s death.
Hadi Matar, 28, of Fairview, was found guilty of attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization, committing an act of terrorism transcending national boundaries and providing material support to terrorists.
Matar ran up to the stage and stabbed Rushdie multiple times as the author prepared to speak at the Chautauqua Institution in New York on August 12, 2022. Henry Reese, who was about to interview Rushdie, also sustained a stab wound while trying to hold back the attacker.
Iranian Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a fatwa calling for the author’s assassination in 1989, following the 1988 publication of Rushdie’s novel The Satanic Verses. The novel was labeled as blasphemous for its fictional portrayal of the Prophet Muhammad and for other figures and phrases associated with Islam.
Prosecutors said Matar spent more than a year researching the fatwa, which was endorsed by Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in 2006.
Matar discussed the fatwa with people in Iran, Australia and Canada and produced videos which included footage of Nasrallah, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
He traveled under the name “Hassan Mughniyeh,” combining the names of Nasrallah and former Hezbollah terrorist commander Imad Mughniyeh.
“This was not an impulsive act,” stated Jarod Brown, assistant director of the FBI’s Counterterrorism Division. “Matar conducted a violent attack in support of a designated foreign terrorist organization.”
Matar faces up to life in prison. His sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 3.
