Feds Probe Possible Terror Group Links of NJ Man Who Stabbed Salman Rushdie

Edited by: TJVNews.com

Federal prosecutors in the United States are intensifying their investigation into whether Hadi Matar, the 25-year-old accused of repeatedly stabbing celebrated author Salman Rushdie during a literary festival last year, had connections to foreign governments or terrorist organizations, as was reported by the New York Post.  The case, which left Rushdie with severe injuries, has raised concerns about potential international links to the attack.

Matar, the son of Lebanese immigrants residing in New Jersey, has pleaded not guilty to charges of assault and attempted murder in the vicious assault on Salman Rushdie, as indicated in the Post report. The incident occurred at a literary festival in upstate New York in August 2022, where Rushdie was a guest speaker. The famous author, known for his controversial work “The Satanic Verses,” had previously faced a death edict in 1989 issued by Iran’s Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, as noted in the Post report.

Chautauqua County District Attorney Jason Schmidt, overseeing the state case against Matar, revealed that the US Attorney’s Office has initiated a separate inquiry into Matar’s potential links to international organizations, the Post report said. Matar had spent time in Lebanon and was found in possession of a fake driver’s license bearing the name of a prominent Hezbollah commander at the time of his arrest.

Schmidt stated that while his office is preparing for Matar’s trial, set to begin as early as next year, the Department of Justice (DOJ) is addressing broader concerns about Matar’s potential radicalization or training by Hezbollah, a Islamic terror group that is bent on destroying Israel, as was reported by the Post.  He emphasized that the jurisdiction for these broader issues falls under the DOJ’s purview.

Speaking with Semafor.com, the Post reported that Schmidt told the outlet: “There are some areas that we have to sort of confine ourselves to the four corners of the charges that we’ve asserted, which is essentially an ‘attempted murder in the second degree’ charge. That’s our top count. That gets us away from some of the underlying motivations that went into the intent. Some of that have been sort of removed from us in our jurisdiction, and that’s something that the US Attorney’s Office has been looking at and they are dealing with.”

One of the key questions arising from the attack is whether Matar acted as a lone assailant or had affiliations with Hezbollah or the Iranian regime. Matar’s mother, Silvana Fardos, indicated that her son traveled to Lebanon in 2018 and likely stayed in an area controlled by Hezbollah. She suggested that upon returning, Matar had become a devout Shiite zealot supportive of Iran’s Islamic revolution, the Post report added. However, she publicly disowned him following the attack on Rushdie.

Salman Rushdie, 75, who spent years in hiding with police protection due to the 1989 fatwa calling for his death, has not attributed the attack to any foreign entities. The Post reported that in an exclusive jailhouse interview shortly after his arrest, Matar did not disclose any connections with Iran’s Revolutionary Guard and implied that he acted alone after coming across a tweet about Rushdie’s visit. Despite expressing his dislike for Rushdie’s work and beliefs, he did not confirm whether he was inspired by the fatwa issued against the author.

While Tehran denied any involvement in the attack on Rushdie, they maintained their criticism of the author for his alleged blasphemy. According to the Post report, Rushdie himself has not shown a strong inclination to face Matar in court, expressing uncertainty about whether he can be bothered to do so.

As the investigation into Hadi Matar’s potential links to foreign governments or terrorist groups continues, the case remains a focal point of concern regarding the broader implications of violence against authors and intellectuals who express controversial ideas.