Hadi Matar, Salman Rushdie stabbing attacker, receives maximum jail sentence.
CHAUTAUQUA, N.Y. ― The New Jersey man convicted of stabbing and nearly killing renowned author Salman Rushdie during a speaking engagement in 2022, was handed a maximum sentence Friday of 25 years, plus five years of post-release supervision, for a second-degree attempted murder charge.
Hadi Matar, 27, also received a concurrent sentence of seven years plus three years of post-release supervision for a second-degree assault charge.
Matar has been remanded to the New York State Department of Corrections.
Mater was apprehended on Aug. 12, 2022, after authorities say he rushed the stage of the Chautauqua Institution's amphitheater and repeatedly stabbed Rushdie, 77, and injured entrepreneur Henry Reese, 75, who was on stage with the author.
Matar was found guilty of second-degree attempted murder and second-degree assault after a two-week trial in February in Chautauqua County Court.
Matar is also facing federal charges of attempting to provide material support to Hezbollah, a designated foreign terrorist organization; engaging in an act of terrorism transcending national boundaries; and providing material support to terrorists, according to a U.S. Justice Department news release.
Chautauqua County Public Defender Nathaniel Barone, who is representing Matar in federal court, said he anticipates the trial to begin later this year or next year.