ERIE, Pa. — Author Salman Rushdie is being treated at UPMC Hamot in Erie for injuries he suffered when he was attacked on stage while lecturing at the Chautauqua Institution in Chautauqua, N.Y. Erie police said. Rushdie was stabbed in the neck and punched, authorities said.
Rushdie flown to UPMC Hamot in Erie
He was flown by helicopter to Erie from Chautauqua, said Erie police Deputy Chief William Marucci. He said the Erie police are assisting Hamot staff with security at the hospital, and he said investigators with the New York State Police are also at Hamot.
Eyewitness: ‘So much screaming’
The attack occurred at about 11 a.m. at the institution’s 4,000-seat amphitheater.
David Johnson, a Pittsburgh resident who was in the audience for the Rushdie event, said he saw a man dressed in dark clothing charge the stage and tackle Rushdie.
Johnson said he couldn’t see the full extent of Rushdie’s injuries but said there was “blood spatter” in a panel behind his chair.
“There was so much screaming in the amphitheater,” Johnson told the Erie Times-News. “People are still walking around stunned.”
Johnson said amphitheater was evacuated.
New York State Police statement on Rushdie attack
New York State Police released this statement on the attack, which an Associated Press reporter witnessed.
“State Police are investigating an attack on author Salman Rushdie prior to a speaking event at the Chautauqua Institution in Chautauqua, NY.
“On August 12, 2022, at about 11 a.m., a male suspect ran up onto the stage and attacked Rushdie and an interviewer. Rushdie suffered an apparent stab wound to the neck, and was transported by helicopter to an area hospital. His condition is not yet known. The interviewer suffered a minor head injury. A State Trooper assigned to the event immediately took the suspect into custody. The Chautauqua County Sheriff’s Office assisted at the scene.
“More information will be released when it is available.”
USA Today report:‘Satanic Verses’ author Salman Rushdie attacked on stage, suffers ‘apparent stab wound to the neck’
Chautauqua Institution statement on the attack
Here is a statement from Chautauqua Institution spokesperson Jordan Steves:
“Chautauqua Institution is currently coordinating with law enforcement and emergency officials on a public response following today’s attack of Salman Rushdie on the Chautauqua Amphitheater stage. We will provide more details as we know them.”
At 12:45 pm. the institution restored normal security measures. It is not accepting day-pass holders, only season-pass holders, officials said. All programs were canceled after the attack on Rushdie, according to the institution.
New York governor’s statement on the attack
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul condemned the attack and praised Rushdie.
“He is an individual who has spent decades speaking truth to power. Someone who’s been out there unafraid despite the threats that have followed him his entire adult life,” Hochul said. “We are undeterred in our commitment to make sure that we call it out, we condemn what happened, we condemn all violence, and we want people to feel that freedom to speak and to write truth.”
About Salman Rushdie
Rushdie’s lecture at Chautauqua was scheduled to be with Henry Reese, whom the institution described as “co-founder and president of City of Asylum in Pittsburgh, which was founded in 2004 to provide sanctuary in Pittsburgh to writers exiled under threat of persecution.”
According to USA Today, Rushdie is the author of 12 novels, six of which are USA TODAY best sellers, most notably “The Satanic Verses,” which 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.
Iran has also offered over $3 million in reward money for anyone who kills Rushdie.
Iran’s government has long since distanced itself from Khomeini’s decree, but anti-Rushdie sentiment lingered. In 2012, a semi-official Iranian religious foundation raised the bounty for Rushdie from $2.8 million to $3.3 million.
Rushdie dismissed that threat at the time, saying there was “no evidence” of people being interested in the reward.
That year, Rushdie published a memoir, “Joseph Anton,” about the fatwa.
Rushdie’s most recent novel, “Quichotte,” was published in 2019. In it, Rushdie puts his spin on the Cervantes classic with a modern-day Don Quixote, satirizing President Donald Trump’s America. The book has been long-listed for the Booker Prize.
This is a developing story. Return to GoErie.com for updates.
A.J. Rao can be reached at arao@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @ETNRao.
Contact Tim Hahn at thahn@timesnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ETNhahn.
