Rushdie attacker is found guilty of attempted murder

A New York jury yesterday convicted Hadi Matar of trying to kill the novelist Salman Rushdie, who was seriously wounded and blinded in one eye in a knife attack two-and-a-half years ago.

- ANDREA CAVALLIER JOSH MARCUS

Matar, 27, was sentenced nearly two weeks after the trial began on 10 February. He looked down when the verdict was read, and said, “Free Palestine”, as he was led out of the courtroom in handcuffs, WGRZ reports.

The jury deliberated for less than two hours. The attacker was also found guilty of assault for injuring a man onstage with Rushdie.

Matar, from New Jersey, had pleaded not guilty to both charges. He faces up to 25 years in prison, and his sentencing hearing is set for 23 April.

“We had a number of different angles to show the jurors," district attorney Jason Schmidt told reporters after the verdict. "It really is as compelling as it can possibly get.”

Matar’s defense told CBS News he was disappointed by the jury’s decision but had been preparing for that possibility.

Matar’s trial took place at Chautauqua County Court in western New York, a short distance from the Chautauqua Institution, where the knife attack unfolded on 12 August, 2022.

Rushdie was about to speak in front of an audience at the amphitheatre when a masked man rushed at him onstage, stabbing and slashing him more than a dozen times.