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The White House said Friday that it finds the stabbing of author Salman Rushdie “reprehensible” and Biden administration officials are praying for his recovery.
Rushdie was stabbed multiple times before a speech at the Chautauqua Institution in Chautauqua, New York, on Friday. The attacker allegedly rushed onto the stage and stabbed him in the neck. Rushdie is undergoing surgery at a local hospital.
“Today, the country and the world witnessed a reprehensible attack against the writer Salman Rushdie,” White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said in a statement. “This act of violence is appalling. All of us in the Biden-Harris Administration are praying for his speedy recovery.”
NEW YORK POLICE IDENTIFY MAN WHO ALLEGEDLY STABBED SALMAN RUSHDIE
Salman Rushdie was stabbed multiple times before a speech at the Chautauqua Institution in Chautauqua, New York, on Friday. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File)
“We are thankful to good citizens and first responders for helping Mr. Rushdie so quickly after the attack and to law enforcement for its swift and effective work, which is ongoing,” he continued.
A State Trooper assigned to the event at the Chautauqua Institution took the suspect, identified as 24-year-old Hadi Matar, into custody immediately after the attack, New York State Police said. The event moderator also suffered a minor head injury.
Andrew Wylie, an agent for Rushdie, told The New York Times that the writer is on a ventilator and is unable to speak.
STABBING OF SALMAN RUSHDIE COMES 33 YEARS AFTER FATWA ISSUED ON HIS LIFE BY IRAN
The attacker allegedly rushed onto the stage and stabbed Rushdie in the neck. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)
“The news is not good,” Wylie said. “Salman will likely lose one eye; the nerves in his arm were severed; and his liver was stabbed and damaged.”
Rushdie has lived under the threat of a fatwa on his life after Iran’s Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini condemned his book, “The Satanic Verses,” as blasphemy in 1989 and called for the author’s death. The book was also banned in Iran. A fatwa is a decree from an Islamic religious leader.
Iran has offered more than $3 million for anyone who kills Rushdie.
Rushdie has lived under the threat of a fatwa on his life after Iran’s Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini condemned his book, “The Satanic Verses,” as blasphemy in 1989 and called for the author’s death. ((Photo by Jerod Harris/Getty Images))
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Iran’s government has since distanced itself from Khomeini’s decree, but Rushdie still faced opposition. A semi-official Iranian religious foundation raised a bounty for Rushdie in 2012 from $2.8 million to $3.3 million.
Fox News’ Adam Sabes and Andrew Mark Miller contributed to this report.