Author Salman Rushdie Attacked at New York Event: Live News Updates - The New York Times

Rushdie, a celebrated author who has long faced death threats, was still in surgery after being stabbed in the neck and abdomen by a 24-year old New Jersey man.

The author Salman Rushdie, who spent years in hiding and under police protection after Iranian officials called for his execution, was stabbed in the neck and abdomen on Friday while onstage in Chautauqua, near Lake Erie in western New York, the state police said.

Rushdie, 75, took the stage for a lecture at the Chautauqua Institution, a community that offers arts and literary programming during the summer.

Staniszewski of the New York State Police identified the suspect in the attack as Hadi Matar, a 24-year-old New Jersey man, but said at a news conference late Friday afternoon that there was no indication of the motive.

He said that the police were working with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the local sheriff’s office to try to determine it, and he said that investigators were in the process of obtaining search warrants for a backpack and electronic devices that were found at the institution.

The state police said that the interviewer at the event had also “suffered a minor head injury” but did not identify him.

The Chautauqua Institution said on Twitter that it was asking for “your prayers for Salman Rushdie and Henry Reese.” Mr.

“Just hours before the attack, on Friday morning, Salman had emailed me to help with placements for Ukrainian writers in need of safe refuge from the grave perils they face,” she said in a statement.

Rushdie spent about 10 years under police protection, living in hiding after Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the Supreme Leader of Iran after the 1979 Iranian Revolution, called for his execution in 1989 because his novel “The Satanic Verses” was considered offensive to Islam.

Rushdie had just come onstage to deliver the morning lecture at the 4,000 seat amphitheater of Chautauqua Institution, a gated community that features arts and literary programming each summer, when he was attacked, witnesses said.

A trooper assigned to the event took the assailant into custody, the police said.

Kathy Hochul of New York said on Twitter that she had directed the State Police to assist in the investigation and that “Our thoughts are with Salman & his loved ones following this horrific event.”.

Doershuk said security at the institution is lax and that there did not appear to be any additional measures in place for Mr.

Another eyewitness, Anita Ayerbe, 57, said she had seen the attacker on the grounds of the institution on Thursday afternoon near the amphitheater, and that he was able to access the stage easily.

While all visitors to the community must have a pass to enter the grounds, there is a minimal police presence inside the campus.

The Iranian government publicly backed the fatwa for 10 years, until at least 1998, when Iran’s president, Mohammad Khatami, said Iran no longer supported the killing.

Rushdie published a memoir, “Joseph Anton,” about the fatwa.

Rushdie has enjoyed a more public life in New York City.

Staniszewski of the New York State Police, the suspect, whom he identified as Mr.

Major Staniszewski said Mr.

Matar, who lives in Fairview, N.J., had worked with anyone else, Major Staniszewski said, and his nationality was not yet known.

Rushdie was treated by a doctor in the audience until emergency medical services arrived, Major Staniszewski said.

A backpack apparently belonging to the attacker was checked by a bomb squad, Major Staniszewski said, and was found to be safe.

Rushdie” after the stabbing, Major Staniszewski said.

Michael Hill, the head of the Chautauqua Institution, where the stabbing happened, said we all have to take on “hate” now, but says they will continue their mission.

They said they were working to get search warrants.

Rushdie is still undergoing surgery, the state police said.

Major Eugene Staniszewski of the state police says there is “no indication of a motive at this time.”.

New York State Trooper James O’Callaghan is preparing to deliver remarks to reporters outside the state police facility in Jamestown, N.Y., where the alleged assailant is being held.

Rushdie was 41 and living in the Islington neighborhood of London when the fatwa was issued.

A British citizen, he received 24-hour protection from the government for nine years, provided by the “A” Squad of the special branch of the Metropolitan Police.

Reviewing the memoir, The New York Times critic Michiko Kakutani said Mr.

Joseph Anton,” he wrote, “international publisher of American origin, passed away unmourned on the day that Salman Rushdie, novelist of Indian origin, surfaced from his long underground years and took up part-time residence in Pembridge Mews, Notting Hill.

The state police are expected to hold a news conference at 5 p.m.

The author Ian McEwan issued a statement about Rushdie: “This appalling attack on my dear friend Salman represents an assault on freedom of thought and speech.

Rushdie as the ayatollah’s fatwa finally materializing in action.

A quote from Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the current Iranian leader, was widely shared on social media in which he said the fatwa against Mr.

“This deserves congratulation: God willing, we will celebrate Salman Rushdie going to hell soon,” Keyvan Saedy, a conservative Iranian pundit, said on Twitter.

Rushdie in New York carried a clear message to American officials: that they, too, would be hunted down for the assassination of Iran’s top general, Qassim Suleimani, who died in a U.S.

“Carrying out the order to murder Salman Rushdie 33 years after it was issued sends a message to American officials that they must fear Iran’s revenge for Gen.

In a tweet Friday afternoon, the Chautauqua Institution, where Rushdie was scheduled to speak when he was stabbed on stage, said they are coordinating with police officials and asked for people to pray for the wounded author and for the event's moderator, Henry Reese.

The police said earlier that Rushdie's interviewer had a minor head injury.

Though Salman Rushdie was forced to go into hiding for several years in the 1990s, he has been living freely in New York in recent years, his friends say, appearing in public without evident security, even as his status as a high-profile author and champion of free speech have made him a celebrity.

Rushdie lived in London for some 10 years after the fatwa was issued.

Rushdie remained largely under British police protection, at a fortified safe house with security gate and a porch with a double door.

Rushdie said.

Rushdie appeared as a writer in a music video for the U2 song “The Ground Beneath Her Feet.” In a scene at a book party in the 2001 film “Bridget Jones’s Diary,” Mr.

Rushdie appeared as himself, playfully sending up his reputation as an intimidating intellectual.

Rushdie later said that “if we’d reached the point where we can make fun of it, then that feels good.”.

Rushdie had done many events with the organization in recent years, without any special security arrangements by PEN.

Rushdie bring along any kind of security detail to public events or venues, he said, nor had they ever discussed the threats he faced.

Salman Rushdie has been living under a death sentence since 1989, about six months after the publication of his novel “The Satanic Verses,” which fictionalized parts of the life of the Prophet Muhammad with depictions that many Muslims found offensive and some considered blasphemous.

Rushdie and putting a price on his head of several million dollars.

Rushdie, who lived in London at the time, immediately went into hiding with 24-hour protection from the British police, moving every three days from place to place until a fortified safehouse was prepared for him.

Rushdie, which he later regretted, was rejected by Iran.

The fatwa was maintained by Iran’s government after the death of Ayatollah Khomeini for 10 years, until 1998, when Iranian President Mohammad Khatami, who was considered relatively liberal, said that Iran no longer supported the killing.

Rushdie then began to make public appearances again, attending book events, parties and dining out in restaurants.

The Chautauqua Institution, where the author Salman Rushdie was stabbed on Friday, is an idyllic gated community near the southwestern corner of New York that features arts and literary programming for nine weeks a year, and is known for its relaxed, convivial atmosphere.

Rushdie on the global literary stage, his fourth novel, “The Satanic Verses,” brought him a painful level of visibility: The book, particularly its satirical depictions of the Prophet Muhammad, ignited a furor.

Rushdie, urging Muslims to kill the author, he went into hiding for years.

Rushdie moved to New York, this novel follows a doll maker named Malik who has recently arrived in the city after leaving his wife and child in London.

Although Rushdie “inhabits his novels in all manner of guises and transformations, he has never been so literally present as in this one,” our reviewer wrote.

Rushdie wrote about his experiences after the fatwa in a memoir — a project he said he dreaded for a long time.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Britain said in a Twitter post that he was “appalled that Sir Salman Rushdie has been stabbed while exercising a right we should never cease to defend.

The writer Ayad Akhtar said he never saw Rushdie bring along a security detail in recent years, whether he was at the theater, out to dinner or on stage at a public event.

Akhtar, the current president of PEN America, said that he and Rushdie never discussed the threats the novelist faced over his book “The Satanic Verses,” but that he seemed perfectly comfortable out in the world.

David Graves, 78, who was sitting in the middle section of the amphitheater, said Rushdie was still seated when the attacker reached the stage and launched at him.

Roger Warner of Cleveland, Ohio, was sitting on the front row at the amphitheater with his wife when Rushdie was attacked.

Warner said he saw a tall, slender man leap onto the stage from the left side and begin attacking Salman Rushdie.

He thought the man had punched Rushdie three or four times in the face.

An usher at the amphitheater, Kyle Doershuk, 20, said security at the Institution is lax and that there did not appear to be any additional measures in place for Mr.

In an interview last year, Rushdie was casual and easygoing as he spoke over Zoom from his Manhattan home, cheerfully talking about his thoughts on literature, Fellini’s childhood, and the peanut gallery on Twitter

Literary figures and public officials said that they were shocked by the news that the author Salman Rushdie had been stabbed in the neck on Friday morning while onstage to give a lecture at the Chautauqua Institute in western New York

She said in a statement that the organization’s members were “reeling from shock and horror.”

“Salman Rushdie has been targeted for his words for decades, but has never flinched nor faltered,” she said

Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Britain said in a Twitter post that he was “appalled that Sir Salman Rushdie has been stabbed while exercising a right we should never cease to defend

Kathy Hochul of New York said she had directed state police to assist with the investigation into Mr

A man was immediately taken into custody, according to a statement from the state police

Hochul said on Twitter

Rushdie is “an inspirational defender of persecuted writers and journalists,” in a statement issued on Friday afternoon

The attack occurred at 11 a.m., the state police said

Rushdie was stabbed in the neck and was transported by helicopter to a local hospital, the state police said in a statement