MAYVILLE, N.Y. — In a recent court appearance, Henry Reese, a 75-year-old man who was injured alongside renowned author Salman Rushdie during a knife attack, recounted his harrowing experience of attempting to intervene in the assault once he realized it was serious and not merely a prank. Reese suffered a significant cut above his eye that required multiple stitches for treatment. His testimony took place on the third day of the trial of Hadi Matar, a 27-year-old man from New Jersey, who faces charges for attempting to murder Rushdie and assaulting Reese.
Rushdie, who recently provided his own account of the attack, described the incident as an unprovoked and nearly fatal stabbing that initiated as he and Reese settled in for a discussion at the Chautauqua Institution’s summer lecture series. He credited Reese and other members of the audience with intervening to tackle and restrain the assailant, which likely contributed to his survival. Rushdie, now 77, suffered multiple injuries, including stabs and slashes to his head, neck, torso, leg, and hand, resulting in blindness in one eye. During his extensive testimony, he conveyed the terrifying moment he lay in a pool of his own blood, fully aware of the possibility of death.
Initially, Reese admitted he mistook the approach of the assailant as part of a performance. However, he quickly grasped the gravity of the situation and took action to stop the attacker. “At some point it became real, and I got up and tried to stop the attacker,” he informed the court. On the morning of the attack in August 2022, a considerable audience had gathered in the institution’s 4,400-seat amphitheater to hear a conversation focused on writer safety. Reese is a co-founder of City of Asylum Pittsburgh, an organization dedicated to offering sanctuary to threatened writers and artists, inspired in part by Rushdie’s own experiences.
Rushdie has long been an influential figure in literature, known for works such as “Midnight’s Children” and “Victory City.” He faced years of hiding following a death threat issued by Iranian leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in 1989, prompted by the publication of “The Satanic Verses,” a novel viewed by some Muslims as blasphemous. Following Iran’s announcement that it would not impose the fatwa, Rushdie regained a degree of freedom in his movements over the last twenty-five years.
Hadi Matar is also facing separate federal charges that have yet to be tried in court, stemming from allegations that he was inspired by a 2006 address from Hezbollah’s leadership in favor of the fatwa against Rushdie, despite being born years after it was issued. A federal trial related to terrorism charges is in the works and will take place in U.S. District Court in Buffalo.
The current proceedings are expected to continue at least until the following week, with jurors hearing insights from Chautauqua Institution staff and other witnesses who observed the attack or its immediate consequences. Throughout much of the trial, Matar has maintained a low profile, typically looking down, jotting notes, and conferring with his legal representation. Being a dual citizen of Lebanon and the United States, Matar was born in the U.S. to immigrant parents. After the attack, he participated in a jailhouse interview in which he refrained from mentioning “The Satanic Verses” directly but described Rushdie as someone who “attacked Islam.” Notably, during the trial, Matar has been heard chanting “Free Palestine” while being escorted in or out of the courthouse.
