Lebanese Hadi Matar, Salman Rushdie's alleged attacker, faces federal terrorism charges

The man accused of attempting to kill author Salman Rushdie in New York two years ago now faces federal terrorism charges for his alleged support for Hezbollah, according to an indictment unsealed on Wednesday.

The grand-jury indictment charges Hadi Matar, the New Jersey man already facing state charges of attempted murder and assault for a 2022 knife attack on Rushdie, with three terror charges, including carrying out an act of terrorism and providing material support to Hezbollah.

Matar faces life in prison if found guilty on the federal terror charges.

Matar, who has Lebanese roots, has pleaded not guilty on the state charges of second-degree attempted murder and assault. He is detained in the Chautauqua County Jail in Mayville, New York, awaiting trial.

Matar was arraigned on Wednesday in US District Court in Buffalo, New York. His public defender, Nathaniel Barone, said his client would plead not guilty to the federal charges.

Rushdie was blinded in his right eye and his left hand was badly injured by the stabbing attack in August 2022 on a stage just as Rushdie was to deliver a lecture at an educational retreat near Lake Erie.

This year the writer released a memoir recounting the assault, "Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder."

Reuters