Salman Rushdie attack suspect: What investigators are saying

The suspect is in New York State Police custody.

ByJosh Margolin, Nadine El-Bawab, and Aaron Katersky ABC logo
Sunday, August 14, 2022
Salman Rushdie attack suspect: What investigators are saying
The 24-year-old suspect entered a plea of not guilty to second-degree attempted murder and assault charges.

Law enforcement officials briefed on the investigation into Salman Rushdie's attack told ABC News that "a preliminary investigation into the suspected perpetrator's probable social media presence indicates a likely adherence or sympathy towards Shi'a extremism and sympathies to the Iranian regime/Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps."

Author Salman Rushdie was attacked while giving a lecture at an education center, the Chautauqua Institution in Chautauqua, in southwestern New York, Friday morning. Rushdie was stabbed at least once in the neck and abdomen, after a man ran up on stage and attacked him and his interviewer. The interviewer, Henry Reese, 73, suffered a minor head injury during the attack, police said. He was treated for a facial injury at a nearby hospital and has since been released, police said.