Hadi Matar Sentenced 25 Years for Salman Rushdie Stabbing

Hadi Matar, the New Jersey man convicted of stabbing author Salman Rushdie during a 2022 lecture at the Chautauqua Institution, was sentenced to the maximum 25 years in prison for attempted murder and an additional seven years for assaulting another man on stage. The attack left Rushdie severely injured, including blindness in one eye, nerve and liver damage, and was believed to be motivated by a decades-old fatwa calling for Rushdie's death. Matar, who is 26 years old and holds Lebanese citizenship, has also been charged federally with terrorism-related offenses, including providing material support to Hezbollah, with a trial expected later this year or next. During sentencing, Matar called Rushdie a hypocrite and a bully, while the judge acknowledged Matar's background but emphasized the premeditated and serious nature of the crime. Rushdie testified at the trial, detailing the brutal nature of the stabbing, which occurred as he was about to speak. The district attorney stated that the sentences would run consecutively, reflecting the severity of injuring two victims in the same attack.