The man who attacked Salman Rushdie Aug. 12, 2022, in the Amphitheater was convicted of federal terrorism charges Wednesday, according to the Associated Press.
Earlier this week, according to the Associated Press, a jury found Rushdie’s attacker, Hadi Matar, guilty of all the charges he faced, including “engaging in an act of transnational terrorism.” Matar’s federal sentencing is set for Nov. 3, according to the Associated Press, and he “faces a potential life term.” This follows his February 2025 conviction of state charges of attempted murder, for which he is serving 25 years, according to The New York Times.
The New York Times reported that the federal jury reached the verdict after two hours of deliberation. The trial was held in Buffalo, New York.
On the day of the attack, Rushdie was at Chautauqua Institution to deliver a morning lecture on censorship and the persecution of authors in conversation with Henry Reese, director of City of Asylum, as part of the Chautauqua Lecture Series.
In 2022, The Chautauquan Daily reported that the “world descended onto Chautauqua Institution [Aug. 12, 2022] as an act of violence sent shockwaves through the community within the gates, and across the globe …”
Following the attack, Rushdie was flown to Erie, Pennsylvania’s UPMC Hamot for medical treatment, where he underwent surgery and was placed on a ventilator. Rushdie sustained severe nerve damage and loss of vision in his right eye, according to The New York Times.
In the immediate aftermath of the attack, former President Michael E. Hill said the attack was a “violent expression of hate that shook [Chautauquans] to our core.”
Hill called for Chautauquans to recognize “the best of humanity in response to the numbers of people who ran toward danger,” according to The Chautauquan Daily.
Hill said, “We will return to our podiums and our pulpits. Our hope is we will continue to convene those conversations that were tried to be stopped today, so we can build greater empathy — and it’s more important now than ever.”
In the days following the attack, programs were canceled. Chautauquans came together and held a public vigil in the Hall of Philosophy, and Gov. Kathy Hochul came to the Institution to deliver remarks and thank first responders.
Gov. Hochul said during her 2022 remarks that “calls for violence cannot be tolerated,” according to the Daily. She added, “I want it out there, that a man with a knife cannot silence a man with a pen.”
On Aug. 12, 2023, Reese returned to the Institution to deliver a lecture on City of Asylum, marking the one- year anniversary of the attack.
Following the federal conviction, Interim Chief Executive Kyle Keogh said he hopes the jury’s decision will bring closure to an “incredibly tragic moment” in Chautauqua’s history.
“We are still so saddened by the tragedies that happened here on Aug. 12, 2022,” Keogh said. “[We] hope that this helps bring some closure for all of us — for [Salman Rushdie and his] family, for Chautauqua and the world.”
