Author Salman Rushdie, who spent years in hiding and under police protection after Iranian authorities called for his execution, was attacked and stabbed in the neck Friday while on stage in Chautauqua, near Erie in western New York, state police said. .
The attack, which rocked the literary world, happened around 11 a.m., shortly after Mr. Rushdie, 75, took the stage for a lecture at the Chautauqua Institution, a western New York community that offers arts and literary programs during the summer.
Mr Rushdie was taken by helicopter to a local hospital, the State Police said in a statement. His condition is not yet known. His agent, Andrew Wylie, said in an email on Friday afternoon that Mr. Rushdie was undergoing surgery.
It was not clear what motivated the attacker.
Linda Abrams of the Buffalo area, who sat in the front row, said the attacker continued to try to attack Mr. Rushdie even after he was taken into custody. “It took about five men to pull him away and he was still stabbing,” she said. “He was just furious, furious. Like intensely strong and just fast.”
Rita Landman, an endocrinologist who was in the audience, said Mr. Rushdie had multiple stab wounds, including one to the right side of his neck, and that there was a pool of blood under his body. But she said he looked alive. “People were saying, ‘He’s got a pulse, he’s got a pulse, he’s got a pulse,'” Ms. Landman said.
Mr Rushdie was treated moments after the attack. Credit… Joshua Goodman/Associated Press
Suzanne Nossel, CEO of PEN America, which promotes free expression, said “we cannot imagine such an incident of a public attack on a literary writer on American soil.”
“Just hours before the attack, on Friday morning, Salman emailed me to help accommodate Ukrainian writers in need of safe haven from the serious dangers they face,” she said in a statement. “Salman Rushdie has been marked for his words for decades, but he never flinched or wavered.”
Mr Rushdie spent about 10 years under police protection living in hiding after Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Iran’s supreme leader since the 1979 Iranian revolution, called for his execution in 1989 because his novel The Satanic Verses was considered offensive to Islam. The book was banned in India, where he was born, and he was banned from entering the country for more than a decade.
Mr. Rushdie had just taken the stage to deliver the morning lecture in the 4,000-seat amphitheater of the Chautauqua Institution, a gated complex that features arts and literary programs each summer, when he was attacked, witnesses said.
He was there for a discussion about the United States as a safe haven for writers in exile and other creatives who are under threat of persecution. The conversation was to be moderated by Henry Reese, the co-founder of a Pittsburgh nonprofit, City of Asylum, which is a residency program for writers in exile.
Mr. Rushdie had just sat down and was being introduced when the assailant rushed on stage and attacked him.
“I could just see his fists hitting Salman,” said one witness, Bill Vasu, 72.
A number of people rushed to Mr. Rushdie’s aid, Mr. Vasu said, and quickly pinned the attacker to the ground.
A police officer assigned to the event took the attacker into custody, police said. The person interviewing Mr Rushdie also suffered a minor head injury.
Gov. Cathy Hochul of New York said on Twitter that she had ordered state police to assist in the investigation and that “our thoughts are with Salman and his loved ones following this horrific event.”
Several witnesses said the attacker was able to easily reach Mr Rushdie, running on stage and approaching him from behind. “There was only one attacker,” said Elizabeth Healy, 75, who was in the audience. “He was dressed in black. He wore a loose black garment. He ran at lightning speed towards him.
“It was very scary and it made me sick to my stomach,” said Jane Bullet, 68, who has been coming for more than a decade. “How come they didn’t block the stairs to the stage?”
“There was a huge lapse in security,” said Mrs Bullet’s husband, John, 85, who witnessed the attack. “That someone could get that close without any intervention was frightening.”
Kyle Doerschuk, 20, was working as an usher at the amphitheater at the time of the attack. He said he was about 15 feet away from the attacker when he started running toward the scene with a knife after dropping a backpack. By the time Mr. Doerschuck knew something was wrong, the attack had begun.
Mr. Doerschuck said that security at the institution was lax and that no additional measures appeared to be in place for Mr. Rushdie’s visit. “It’s very open, very accessible, very relaxed environment,” he said. “I think something like this was just waiting to happen.”
The “Satanic Verses” are considered blasphemous by some Muslims because they make up part of the life of the Prophet Muhammad. Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa in 1989 ordering Muslims to kill Mr. Rushdie.
The Iranian government publicly supported the fatwa for 10 years, at least until 1998, when Iranian President Mohammad Khatami said Iran no longer supported the assassination. But the fatwa remains in place, reportedly with a premium attached by an Iranian religious foundation of about $3.3 million as of 2012.
Mr. Rushdie published a memoir, “Joseph Anton,” about the fatwa. The title comes from the pseudonym he used while in hiding, taken from the first names of Joseph Conrad and Anton Chekhov.
In recent years, Mr. Rushdie has enjoyed a more public life in New York. In 2019, he spoke at a private club in Manhattan to promote his novel Quichotte. Security at the event was relaxed and Mr Rushdie mingled freely with guests and dined with club members afterwards.
Jay Root reported from Chautauqua, NY, David Gelles reported from Putnam Valley, NY, and Elizabeth Harris reported from New York.
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