A 24-year-old New Jersey man who stabbed Mumbai-born author Salman Rushdie at a literary event in New York state has been charged with attempted murder and assault and remanded without bail to the Chautauqua County Jail, police said on Saturday.
The New York State Police Jamestown, which is investigating the attack on prior to a speaking event at the Chautauqua Institution in Chautauqua, said that on Friday the Bureau of Criminal Investigation arrested Hadi Matar of Fairview, New Jersey for attempted murder 2nd degree and assault 2nd degree .
Matar was processed at State Police Jamestown and transported to Chautauqua County Jail.
He was arraigned in centralised arraignment on Saturday and "remanded without bail to the Chautauqua County Jail", the New York State Police said in a statement.
The suspect, Matar, was from Fairview, New Jersey, State Police Troop Commander Major Eugene J Staniszewski said in a Friday evening news conference.
Police are working with the FBI and local authorities to determine the motive.
A preliminary review of Matar's social media accounts by law enforcement showed him to be sympathetic to Shia extremism and the causes of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a law enforcement person with direct knowledge of the investigation told NBC News.
The officials say investigators found photos on Matar's phone of Iranian Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the leader of Iraq's pro-Iranian militia movement, who were killed by US forces in a drone strike in Baghdad in 2020.
He was arraigned on Friday night and remanded without bail, Schmidt said.
"We have been in touch with our counterparts in the State of New Jersey where the attacker is from to share information and assist them in helping us to better understand the planning and preparation which preceded the attack so that we and the different agencies involved can determine what, if any, additional charges should be asserted," the DA's office said.
Authorities are also working to obtain search warrants for several items found at the scene, including a backpack and electronic devices, Staniszewski said.
Authorities believe the suspect was alone but are investigating "to make sure that was the case," Staniszewski said, adding that authorities will determine "appropriate charges" as the investigation continues.
Meanwhile, Chautauqua County Executive Paul Wendel in a statement said on behalf of all Chautauqua County residents, he extends his thoughts and prayers to the family and friends of Rushdie.
"The small tranquil community of the Chautauqua Institution has been shaken to its core by an act of violence, which has reverberated across Chautauqua County and Western New York. It is disappointing that we live in a society where we cannot listen to the differences of others, especially in a place like the Institution where thinkers and problem solvers from around the world come to share their stories," he said.
Wendel thanked all of the emergency and law enforcement agencies who he said have done a tremendous job in responding to this horrific event. It is through their quick response that they were able to mitigate the situation and capture the alleged assailant.
Rushdie, who faced Islamist death threats for years after writing The Satanic Verses, was stabbed by Matar on stage while he was being introduced at a literary event of the Chautauqua Institution in Western New York, sending shockwaves across the literary world which condemned the incident as an attack on freedom of expression.
He was on a ventilator with damaged liver and may lose an eye, the 75-year-old writer's agent, Andrew Wylie, has told the New York Times.
PTI
