Hadi Matar Faces Federal Terror Charges Linked to Salman Rushdie Attack

Hadi Matar, accused of the 2022 knife attack on author Salman Rushdie, now faces federal terrorism charges alleging his support for Hezbollah. The indictment adds three terrorism-related charges to his state charges of attempted murder and assault. Matar, who has pleaded not guilty, risks life imprisonment if convicted.

Hadi Matar, the New Jersey man accused of attempting to kill author Salman Rushdie in New York two years ago, now faces federal terrorism charges due to his alleged support for Hezbollah. The new charges were revealed in an indictment unsealed on Wednesday.

Matar already faces state charges of attempted murder and assault related to the 2022 knife attack on Rushdie. The federal indictment adds three terror-related charges, including carrying out an act of terrorism and providing material support to Hezbollah, a U.S.-designated terrorist group founded by Iran in Lebanon during the early 1980s.

If found guilty on the federal terror charges, Matar faces life in prison. Attorney General Merrick B. Garland stated, "We allege that in attempting to murder Salman Rushdie in New York in 2022, Hadi Matar committed an act of terrorism in the name of Hezbollah."

Prosecutors claim Matar was motivated partially by a 2006 speech by Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah, endorsing the fatwa calling for Rushdie's death issued by Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in 1989.

The Hezbollah media office in Lebanon has not commented on the charges. Matar, who has Lebanese roots, has pleaded not guilty to state charges and remains in Chautauqua County Jail awaiting trial.

In U.S. District Court in Buffalo, New York, Matar's public defender Nathaniel Barone indicated his client will plead not guilty to the federal charges as well. Matar, a Shi'ite Muslim, is aligned ideologically with Hezbollah and the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Despite Iran's pro-reform President Mohammad Khatami distancing himself from the fatwa in the late 1990s, it was never lifted. Rushdie was severely injured in the 2022 stabbing attack, including being blinded in his right eye and suffering a disabling injury to his left hand.

This year, Rushdie released a memoir titled "Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder," recounting the assault.

(With inputs from agencies.)