Hadi Matar Found Guilty of Terrorism for Rushdie Stabbing

WHO:

NY Post - Hadi Matar, 28, was the individual convicted.

BBC News - Matar was attempting to help Hezbollah.

WHAT:

AP News - Matar shared propaganda videos before the attack and communicated with an Iran-based contact who claimed to know “where to find Rushdie.”

AP News - Matar asked whether the fatwa against Rushdie was still active.

The Guardian - Rushdie testified that he became aware of a great quantity of blood he was lying in and felt he was dying during the attack.

AP News - Matar was convicted of federal terrorism charges after a jury deliberated for just a couple of hours.

AP News - Rushdie was attacked while about to speak on writers’ safety and was slashed 15 times.

AP News - Matar's federal sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 3, when he could face a potential life term.

AP News - Matar was convicted Wednesday of federal terrorism charges in the 2022 stabbing of Salman Rushdie.

AP News - Matar was found guilty after just a couple of hours of jury deliberation.

AP News - Rushdie was slashed 15 times during the attack and lost the sight in his right eye.

AP News - Matar is already serving a 25-year New York state prison sentence for attempted murder.

AP News - Matar's federal sentencing is set for Nov. 3, when he faces a potential life term.

NY Post - A jury found Hadi Matar guilty of all charges, including engaging in an act of transnational terrorism.

BBC News - Matar was convicted of terror offenses related to the attack on Salman Rushdie.

WHERE:

NY Post - The attack occurred during a lecture, although the specific location is not mentioned in the articles.

WHEN:

BBC News - The articles do not specify a date for the attack or the conviction.

WHY:

The Guardian - Matar's motivation for trying to kill Rushdie stemmed from a 2006 speech by Hezbollah’s chief, Hassan Nasrallah, who endorsed the fatwa against Rushdie.

AP News - Prosecutors stated that Matar was motivated by Khomeini’s 1989 call for Rushdie’s death due to "The Satanic Verses."

AP News - Prosecutors asserted that Matar was motivated by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini’s 1989 call for Rushdie’s death.

BBC News - Matar's motivation for the attack was to assist Hezbollah.

HOW:

AP News - Matar wrote that he had discerned where Rushdie lived and was tracking his public appearances, eventually pointing out his scheduled August 2022 talk at the Chautauqua Institution.

AP News - Matar spent months planning the attack, initially wanting to "expose" Rushdie before deciding to kill him.

AP News - Matar wrote in a private note: “We need to kill him ASAP,” framing the planned killing as part of a jihad.

AP News - Matar spent months planning the attack, initially wanting to "expose" Rushdie before deciding to kill him.

AP News - Matar wrote in a private note: “We need to kill him ASAP,” framing the planned killing as part of a jihad.

NY Post - Matar engaged in an act of transnational terrorism through the stabbing of Salman Rushdie.

(UPDATED July 30, 2026 19:27 UTC)

Matar communicated with an Iran-based contact and shared propaganda videos before attempting to attack Salman Rushdie, even inquiring whether the fatwa against him was still active. His motivation was linked to a 2006 speech by Hezbollah’s chief, Hassan Nasrallah, who endorsed the fatwa. During the attack, Rushdie testified that he became aware of a significant amount of blood he was lying in and felt he was dying, while Matar had tracked Rushdie's public appearances, including a scheduled talk at the Chautauqua Institution in August 2022.

(UPDATED July 30, 2026 13:32 UTC)

Matar has been convicted of federal terrorism charges after a jury deliberated for just a couple of hours, and his sentencing is set for November 3, where he could face a potential life term. The attack on Rushdie, who was slashed 15 times while preparing to speak on writers’ safety, was motivated by Khomeini’s 1989 call for Rushdie’s death over "The Satanic Verses." Prosecutors revealed that Matar had spent months planning the assault, initially intending to "expose" Rushdie before ultimately deciding to kill him, even writing in a private note that “we need to kill him ASAP,” framing it as part of a jihad.

(UPDATED July 30, 2026 05:56 UTC)

Matar has been convicted of federal terrorism charges related to the 2022 stabbing of Salman Rushdie, with the jury reaching a verdict after just a couple of hours of deliberation. During the attack, Rushdie was slashed 15 times and lost the sight in his right eye, and Matar is already serving a 25-year sentence for attempted murder in New York. His federal sentencing is scheduled for November 3, where he faces the possibility of a life term, as prosecutors highlighted that Matar was motivated by a call from Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini for Rushdie's death and had spent months planning the attack.

(UPDATED July 30, 2026 00:19 UTC)

Hadi Matar, 28, has been found guilty by a jury of all charges, including engaging in an act of transnational terrorism related to the attack on Salman Rushdie. Matar's motivation for the attack was to assist Hezbollah, and he carried out this act through the stabbing of Rushdie during a lecture. The specific location of the attack has not been disclosed in the reports.