Salman Rushdie's attacker convicted of terrorism and aiding Hezbollah in US federal court
A federal jury in Buffalo found Hadi Matar, 28, guilty of providing material support to Hezbollah and engaging in transnational terrorism for the 2022 knife attack that blinded author Salman Rushdie in one eye.
The federal conviction
On Wednesday, a federal jury in Buffalo, New York, convicted Hadi Matar of providing material support to Hezbollah and engaging in an act of transnational terrorism. The verdict came after just two hours of deliberation. Matar, 28, was found guilty on all counts. The charges stem from the August 2022 stabbing of author Salman Rushdie at a retreat in western New York. Matar is already serving a 25-year state prison sentence for attempted murder in the attack. The federal conviction carries a potential life term.
The 2022 attack and state trial
Matar rushed the stage at the Chautauqua Institution as Rushdie was about to speak on writers' safety. He stabbed the author 15 times, wounding his cheek, chest, eye, neck, and thigh. Rushdie survived but lost sight in his right eye and suffered severe nerve damage. In 2025, a state court convicted Matar of attempted murder and sentenced him to 25 years. During the federal trial, Rushdie testified, lifting the darkened lens of his glasses to show the jury his blinded eye. He said the knife came "within millimetres from my brain."
I was on the stage, lying down, with an enormous pool of blood all around me. It was an enormous and expansive lake of blood.
Motivation: the fatwa and Hezbollah
Prosecutors argued that Matar was driven by a 1989 fatwa issued by Iran's then-Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini calling for Rushdie's death over his novel The Satanic Verses. They said Matar was further motivated by a 2006 speech from Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah endorsing the fatwa. Assistant US Attorney Timothy Lynch told the jury that Matar plotted the attack for two years. "The defendant decided no one was going to do it, so he had to do it," Lynch said. "The defendant is the one who answered that call." Defense lawyer Nathaniel Barone countered that the government had no proof of Matar's mindset. Matar declined to testify.
The defendant decided no one was going to do it, so he had to do it. The defendant is the one who answered that call.
- Ayatollah Khomeini issues fatwa calling for Rushdie's death over The Satanic Verses.
- Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah endorses the fatwa in a speech.
- Matar stabs Rushdie 15 times at a New York retreat.
- Matar convicted of attempted murder in state court, sentenced to 25 years.
- Federal jury convicts Matar of terrorism and aiding Hezbollah.
Rushdie's testimony and the book's history
Rushdie, who won the Booker Prize for Midnight's Children, published The Satanic Verses in 1988. The novel drew protests across the Muslim world over perceived blasphemy, particularly in a dream sequence. At least 45 people were killed in riots over the book. A Japanese translator was stabbed to death, an Italian translator survived an attack, and the Norwegian publisher was shot. Rushdie went into hiding for years, emerging after Iran's government distanced itself from the fatwa in 1998. On the stand, Rushdie pushed back when defense attorneys questioned whether he should have expected backlash. "I don't believe the book is on trial," he said. "Somebody else is on trial."
I don't believe the book is on trial. Somebody else is on trial.
What's next
Matar now faces a potential life sentence in federal prison. Sentencing is expected in the coming months. The conviction marks the latest chapter in a decades-long saga that began with a religious edict and left a celebrated author permanently scarred.
