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The White House said Friday it ruled the stabbing of author Salman Rushdie “reprehensible” and that Biden administration officials are praying for his recovery.
Rushdie was stabbed multiple times before giving a speech at the Chautauqua Institute in Chautauqua, New York on Friday. The attacker allegedly ran onto the stage and stabbed him in the neck. Rushdie undergoes surgery at a local hospital.
“Today the nation and the world witnessed a reprehensible attack on author Salman Rushdie,” White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said in a statement. We all wish him a speedy recovery.”
New York police identify man accused of stabbing Salman Rashi
“We are grateful to the good citizens and first responders who helped Mr Rushdie so quickly after the attack.
State police assigned to the incident at the Chautauqua Institute took a suspect, identified as Hadi Matar, 24, into custody shortly after the attack, according to the New York State Police. I lost.
Rushdie’s agent, Andrew Wiley, told the New York Times that the writer was on a respirator and unable to speak.
The stabbing of SALMAN RUSHDIE comes 33 years after Iran issued a fatwa on his life.
“The news is not good,” Wiley said. “Saruman likely lost one of his eyes, had a nerve cut in his arm and had his liver stabbed and damaged.”
Rushdie has lived under the threat of a fatwa after Iran’s Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini denounced his book Satanic Verses as blasphemy in 1989 and demanded the author’s death. The book was also banned in Iran. Fatwas are decrees by Muslim religious leaders.
Iran gave over $3 million to those who killed Rushdie.
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Although the Iranian government has since distanced itself from Khomeini’s orders, Rushdie still faces opposition. A semi-official Iranian religious foundation increased Rushdie’s bounty in 2012 from his $2.8 million to hers $3.3 million.
Fox News’ Adam Sabes and Andrew Mark Miller contributed to this report.