Hadi Matar, the New Jersey man accused of a 2022 knife attack on author Salman Rushdie, now faces federal terrorism charges, according to an indictment unsealed on Wednesday. Matar, who had previously been charged with state-level murder and assault, is now also accused of supporting Hezbollah, a U.S.-designated terrorist organization.
The grand jury indictment includes three terrorism-related charges against Matar: carrying out an act of terrorism and providing material support to Hezbollah, which was established by Iran in Lebanon during the early 1980s. Matar, who has Lebanese heritage, remains in custody at the Chautauqua County Jail in Mayville, New York, and has pleaded not guilty to the state charges. He is awaiting trial on those charges.
Public defender Nathaniel Barone stated that Matar intends to plead not guilty to the new federal charges. Matar is scheduled for arraignment later today in U.S. District Court in Buffalo, New York.
Hezbollah, a Shi’ite Islamist group with close ties to Iran, has not yet responded to requests for comment regarding Matar’s alleged association with the group. The fatwa, or religious edict, that originally called for Rushdie’s death was issued by Iran’s former Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, following the publication of Rushdie’s 1988 book, The Satanic Verses. This book was deemed blasphemous by some Muslims, leading to Rushdie living in hiding for a decade.
Matar, a Shi’ite Muslim, is accused of acting in alignment with Hezbollah’s ideology. Although Iran’s reformist government under President Mohammad Khatami distanced itself from the fatwa in the late 1990s, it was never officially rescinded.
The attack on Rushdie, which took place on stage during a lecture at an educational retreat near Lake Erie in August 2022, resulted in significant injuries to the author. Rushdie was left blinded in his right eye and suffered severe damage to his left hand. In response to the attack, Rushdie released a memoir earlier this year titled Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder.
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