Salman Rushdie Attacked Onstage At Event In Upstate New York

Author Salman Rushdie, whose writing led to death threats in the 1980s, has been attacked onstage at an event in western New York, according to The Associated Press.

Rushdie was reportedly attacked on Friday as he was about to give a lecture at the Chautauqua Institution.

An Associated Press reporter witnessed a man storm the stage as Rushdie was being introduced. The author was taken or fell to the floor, and the man was restrained.

Rushdie’s condition was not immediately known.

Rushdie’s book The Satanic Verses has been banned in Iran since 1988, as many Muslims consider it to be blasphemous. A year later, Iran’s late leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a fatwa, or edict, calling for Rushdie’s death. 

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