Salman Rushdie attack suspect: What investigators are saying

The suspect is in New York State Police custody.

ByJosh Margolin, Nadine El-Bawab, and Aaron Katersky ABC logo
Sunday, August 14, 2022
Salman Rushdie attack suspect: What investigators are saying
The 24-year-old suspect entered a plea of not guilty to second-degree attempted murder and assault charges.
Photo by Grant Pollard/Invision/AP, File

Law enforcement officials briefed on the investigation into Salman Rushdie's attack told ABC News that "a preliminary investigation into the suspected perpetrator's probable social media presence indicates a likely adherence or sympathy towards Shi'a extremism and sympathies to the Iranian regime/Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps."

Author Salman Rushdie was attacked while giving a lecture at an education center, the Chautauqua Institution in Chautauqua, in southwestern New York, Friday morning. Rushdie was stabbed at least once in the neck and abdomen, after a man ran up on stage and attacked him and his interviewer. The interviewer, Henry Reese, 73, suffered a minor head injury during the attack, police said. He was treated for a facial injury at a nearby hospital and has since been released, police said.

Copyright © 2026 ABC, Inc.