Salman Rushdie Stabbed in the Neck on Stage in New York
Salman Rushdie was stabbed in the neck by a man who rushed the stage as the British-Indian author was about to speak at an event in western New York on Thursday morning, according to law enforcement and witnesses.
The attack happened as Rushdie was about to address the Chautauqua Institution, a nonprofit education center and summer resort near Buffalo, for a talk on the U.S. being an “asylum for writers and other artists in exile.” Rushdie was taken by helicopter to a hospital; while his condition is unclear, one witness told The Daily Beast that her husband saw Rushdie “able to walk with assistance” after the ambush.
Andrew Wylie, who represents Rushdie, told The Daily Beast around 2 p.m. that the author was in surgery but did not have any update on his condition. State Sen. George Borrello, who represents the district where Rushdie was attacked, said in a Friday statement that authorities believe the attacker was motivated “by fundamentalist extremism.”