Saturday 13 August 2022 03:58 PM Iran-sympathizer Hadi Matar, 24, who attacked Salman Rushdie is transferred to ... trends now
The suspect accused of stabbing author Salman Rushdie was last night transferred to Chautauqua County Jail ahead of his arraignment today.
Hadi Matar, 24, will appear in court after being moved from the New York State Police barracks in Jamestown after the attack on Friday.
New footage shows the alleged attacker in the back of a state police car, with two officers in the front.
He can be seen looking away from the camera and appeared to be wearing a grey t-shirt – different to what he was wearing when he was arrested.
Rushdie, 75, was attacked by Matar as he got onto the stage to give a speech at the Chautauqua Institution.
He remains on a ventilator at UPMC Hamot in Erie, Pennsylvania, with his agent confirming that the nerves in his neck were severed in the attack, meaning that he could lose an eye.
Press are being banned from the first court appearance of Matar, with Chautauqua Country Warden Matthew Stuczynski claiming that the decision was down to ‘safety and security and good running order of the facility.’
Lucian Chalfen, spokesman for the New York State Unified Court System, claimed that the county jail is not set up for press attendance.
He added: ‘This is a town and village court, in that county the central location happens to be the jail. It is up to the Sheriff to accommodate if he can.’
Hadi Matar, 24, will appear in court after being moved from the New York State Police barracks in Jamestown after the attack on Friday
New footage shows the alleged attacker in the back of a state police car, with two officers in the front
Salman Rushdie, 75, was attacked by a Hadi Matar, pictured with Sheriff's deputies, who approached him from behind before stabbing him multiple times. The suspect was quickly pinned to the floor before being arrested
A Homeland Security Investigations Police officer enters the building where Salman Rushdie's alleged attacker Hadi Matar, lives in Fairview, New Jersey
Matar, a sympathizer of the Iranian regime, rushed onto the stage at the literary festival in upstate New York as Rushdie was announced.
British-born Booker Prize winning author Sir Salman Rushdie (pictured in 2019) got death threats and was issued a fatwah by Iran for his 1988 novel, the Satanic Verses. He has lived in the U.S. since 2000 and was today preparing to give a lecture about America being a haven for writers in exile
He reportedly stabbed him multiple times, before being pinned to the ground by horrified witnesses and was apprehended by a state trooper.
Matar was also understood to be using a fake drivers licence in the name of Hassan Mughniyah – names which are linked to infamous terrorist organization Hezbollah.
The group's current leader is named Hassan Nasralla, an one of the group's most notorious figures was Imad Mughniyeh, who was killed in a CIA-linked assassination in Syria in 2008.
The driver's license also included a reference to an address in West New York, New Jersey, less than three miles from his listed address in Fairview, New Jersey.
Matar, who police say gained access to the grounds with a pass, managed to walk off the stage before being restrained, as people rushed to assist Rushdie.
Witnesses to the stabbing say that the suspect wore black clothing and a black mask during the attack on The Satanic Verses author in Buffalo on Friday.
Since the 1980s, the IRGC have been linked to Hezbollah, offering training and funding to the primarily Lebanon-based terrorist organization. Hezbollah's logo is based on the IRGC's.
The fake driver's license that was found on 24-year-old Hadi Mater bore the name Hassan Mughniyah. Both, the first and second names are linked to infamous terrorist organization Hezbollah
One of the Hezbollah's most notorious figures was Imad Mughniyeh. He was killed in a CIA-linked assassination in Syria in 2008
The authors suspected attacker was pinned down by witnesses and security staff moments after the attack. Rushdie's son Zafar, 42, is aware of the incident
People rushed to assist the author after the attack, with the attacker being restrained by witnesses. The motive for the stabbing is currently unknown
Rushdie was issued a fatwa – a death sentence - in 1989 by Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini after his book, the Satanic Verses, sparked and outcry with Muslims in Britain.
The book supposedly insulted the Prophet Mohammed and The Koran, with Khomeini calling for Rushdie's death, and also called for Muslims to point him out to those who could kill him if they could not themselves.
Authorities descended on the Fairview, New Jersey home of Matar hours after he allegedly attacked Rushdie onstage.
Rushdie has previously received death threats for his writing, with his book the Satanic Verses which supposedly insulted the Prophet Mohammed and The Koran.
He wrote the Satanic Verses, which resulted in a culture war being sparked in 1988 in Britain – with protests taking place in the UK along with book burnings.
Pakistan banned the book, and he was issued a fatwa – a death sentence - by Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini in February 1989.
Khomeini called for the death of Rushdie and his publishers, and also called for Muslims to point him out to those who could kill him if they could not themselves.
The fatwa, or 'spiritual opinion', followed a wave of book burnings in Britain and rioting across the Muslim world which led to the deaths of 60 people