Hadi Matar, the accused assailant, was apprehended by bystanders at the scene and has entered a plea of not guilty.
Rushdie provided vivid accounts of the moment when he sensed he was in peril. “Before we proceeded with our discussion, I noticed this individual rushing toward me from my right side,” he recounted. “I spotted him only at the very last second. He was donned in dark clothing and wore a black face mask.” He further commented on the intensity of Matar’s eyes, describing them as dark and appearing quite formidable.
Describing the struggle, Rushdie recalled, “At first, he hit me very forcefully. I initially thought it was a punch, but then I noticed a considerable amount of blood soaking my clothes. He continued to strike and slash at me.” He detailed the chaos of trying to escape, stating, “I was receiving numerous strikes to my chest, torso, and around my waist while desperately attempting to get out of my chair and away from him.”
Rushdie vividly recounted the traumatic experience, mentioning, “After several blows to my chest, including three stab wounds, I became acutely aware of the immense amount of blood beneath me.” Lying there, he felt a profound sensation of pain and shock. Reflecting on the attack, he described an intensely painful stab wound in his eye and shared, “My primary thought was that I might be dying.”
During the cross-examination phase, Matar’s defense attorney, Lynn Shaffer, posed questions to Rushdie regarding the event. “I believe you mentioned you’re a writer,” she began. As their dialogue progressed, Shaffer expressed surprise that Rushdie’s cameo in “Bridget Jones’s Diary” was her favorite movie. Rushdie responded with amusement, referencing it as “my most important work.”
The defense’s strategy hinted at exploring memory’s fragility, as Shaffer asked Rushdie about the impact of trauma on recollections. Rushdie acknowledged having a false memory about standing up when he first saw his attacker, clarifying that wasn’t accurate. Shaffer pressed him regarding the number of times he had been struck, to which Rushdie admitted, “I wasn’t counting at that moment; I was preoccupied, but afterward, I could see the evidence on my body without needing anyone to tell me.”
Although Rushdie spent 17 days in the hospital and went through weeks of rehabilitation, he revealed that he has not yet made a full recovery. He stated, “I don’t feel I’m at 100%. I believe I’ve substantially healed, perhaps around 75-80%. I’m not as full of energy as I once was, nor as physically strong.”
