Author Salman Rushdie was stabbed on Friday as he prepared to give a lecture in western New York. His writing caused death threats from Iran in the 1980s. The 75-year-old Rushdie was stabbed while being introduced on stage.
When Rushdie was stabbed by a man, witnesses can be seen coming to his aid in video footage from the incident. The victim was not immediately identified by the Chautauqua County police.
Videos from the scene showed that Rushdie had been flown to the hospital by a medical chopper.
Rushdie and an interviewer were attacked after the perpetrator ran up onto the stage, according to New York Police.
“Rushdie was taken by helicopter to a nearby hospital after sustaining what appeared to be a stab wound to the neck. His state is still unknown. A slight head injury was sustained by the interviewer. The guy was taken into custody right away by a state trooper stationed to the scene “In a statement, the New York Police said.
Following the attack on Rushdie, hundreds of people who had gathered at the Chautauqua Institute were forced to leave.
Salman Rushdie first gained notoriety with his Booker Prize-winning 1981 novel “Midnight’s Children,” but The Satanic Verses is when the world first heard of him. Since 1988, the book has been prohibited in Iran because it is thought to be blasphemous by many Muslims.
Later, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the late president of Iran, issued a fatwa, or edict, calling for Rushdie’s.
