Investigators Hunt for Motivation and Actions of Man Accused in Rushdie Assault

After the creator Salman Rushdie was stabbed on Friday on the Chautauqua Establishment in western New York, state and federal investigators have been making an attempt to find out the suspect’s motivation, plans, communication and actions as Mr. Rushdie remained in a precarious situation on Saturday.

Mr. Rushdie, who had spent many years beneath proscription by Iran, was on a ventilator after present process hours of surgical procedure and couldn’t converse, Andrew Wylie, his agent, stated in an e-mail on Friday night. Efforts to succeed in Mr. Wylie on Saturday have been unsuccessful.

Mr. Wylie stated on Friday that the creator’s situation was “not good.” Mr. Rushdie may lose an eye fixed, his liver had been broken and the nerves in his arm have been severed, he stated.

Antonio Guterres, the secretary normal of the United Nations, stated on Saturday that he was appalled by the assault on the creator, who many years in the past grew to become an emblem of freedom of expression within the face of repression.

“In no case is violence a response to phrases spoken or written by others of their train of the freedoms of opinion and expression,” Mr. Guterres stated in an announcement.

The New York State Police stated at a information convention on Friday afternoon that there was no indication of a motive, however that they have been working with the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Hadi Matar, a 24-year-old New Jersey man, was arrested on the scene and charged with tried homicide and assault, the New York State Police stated. He’s being held on the Chautauqua County Jail, the place he was to be arraigned on Saturday, in keeping with officers.

A video on TikTok that was subsequently taken down confirmed the chaotic scene on Friday, moments after the attacker had jumped onto the stage on the usually placid heart for mental discourse. Mr. Rushdie, who had been dwelling comparatively overtly after years of a semi-clandestine existence, had simply taken a seat to provide a chat when a person attacked him.

A crowd of individuals instantly rushed to the place the creator lay on the stage to supply support. Surprised members of the viewers might be seen all through the amphitheater. Whereas some have been screaming, others bought up and moved slowly towards the stage. Individuals began to congregate within the aisles. An individual might be heard yelling “Oh, my God” repeatedly.

A sheriff’s deputy and one other legislation enforcement officer with a canine ran to the scene a couple of minute later.

In an announcement on Friday, the U.S. nationwide safety adviser, Jake Sullivan, known as the assault towards Mr. Rushdie “reprehensible.”

“This act of violence is appalling,” he stated.

The state police didn’t present an replace on Mr. Rushdie’s situation on Saturday morning. A spokeswoman for a hospital in Erie, Pa., the place Mr. Rushdie is being handled, stated it might not present data on affected person situations.

At a home listed as Mr. Matar’s residence in Fairview, N.J., nobody answered the door on Saturday morning. A lady in a grey Jeep Rubicon within the driveway saved her home windows up, waving off reporters as she sped away. Lots of Mr. Matar’s neighbors stated they didn’t know him.

Antonio Lopa, who lives throughout the road from Mr. Matar, stated he noticed between 10 and 15 F.B.I. brokers outdoors Mr. Matar’s residence on Friday afternoon. They stayed till almost 1:30 a.m., he stated.

Officers stated at a information convention on Friday that they have been working to get search warrants for a backpack and digital units that have been discovered on the establishment.

Mr. Rushdie had been dwelling beneath the specter of an assassination try since 1989, about six months after the publication of his novel “The Satanic Verses.” The e book fictionalized elements of the lifetime of the Prophet Muhammad with depictions that offended some Muslims, who believed the novel to be blasphemous. Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who led Iran after its 1979 revolution, issued an edict often known as a fatwa on Feb. 14, 1989. It ordered Muslims to kill Mr. Rushdie.

In 1991, the novel’s Japanese translator was stabbed to loss of life and its Italian translator was badly wounded. The novel’s Norwegian writer was shot 3 times in 1993 outdoors his residence in Oslo and was critically injured.

Elizabeth Harris, Chelsia Rose Marcius and Farnaz Fassihi contributed reporting.