Author Salman Rushdie testifies at terrorism trial of man convicted of stabbing him

By — John Wawrow, Associated Press John Wawrow, Associated Press By — Jennifer Peltz, Associated Press Jennifer Peltz, Associated Press Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/author-salman-rushdie-testifies-at-terrorism-trial-of-man-convicted-of-stabbing-him Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Author Salman Rushdie testifies at terrorism trial of man convicted of stabbing him Nation Jul 23, 2026 8:17 PM EDT BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Four years after being stabbed on an amphitheater stage, Salman Rushdie sat across a courtroom from his convicted attacker Thursday and told jurors for a second time about the ambush that nearly killed him. WATCH: Salman Rushdie reflects on attack that changed his life in memoir 'Knife' The prize-winning writer recalled feeling what he thought was a punch under his chin, then feeling blood coming from his neck. Soon "I was on the stage, lying down, with an enormous pool of blood all around me," Rushdie testified. "It was an enormous and expansive lake of blood." A Buffalo federal court jury watched Rushdie fixedly as he testified — and at one point removed his glasses to show his now sightless right eye — at Hadi Matar's terrorism trial. He has pleaded not guilty. Matar already was convicted of a state-level attempted murder charge in the 2022 attack at a cultural institution where Rushdie was poised to speak about threats to writers and artists. Federal prosecutors say Matar was acting on such a threat — an Iranian leader's 1989 call for Rushdie's death because of his novel "The Satanic Verses." "I can't say what his ambitions or his aim was, but the wounds were dispersed across my body," Rushdie testified. Rushdie: Knife came 'a millimeter from my brain' Rushdie, 79, was composed and straightforward during little more than an hour on the witness stand. He outlined the attack — which blinded him in the right eye, damaged his liver, paralyzed his left hand for a time and briefly put him on a ventilator — and his lengthy recuperation and enduring injuries. "The knife was a millimeter from my brain," said Rushdie, whose attacker climbed on stage, approached from behind him and then slashed the author 15 times as the Chautauqua Institution audience gasped. Spectators and another speaker, Henry Reese, scrambled to aid Rushdie and restrain Matar, who was arrested by law enforcement assigned to the event. Rushdie has described the stabbing and recovery previously during Matar's earlier trial, in a memoir and in interviews with The Associated Press and other outlets. As Rushdie testified, Matar, 28, looked down at the defense table, sometimes rested his hand on his chin or turned to speak to his lawyer, looking toward the author only as Rushdie walked out a door. The writer glanced at Matar fleetingly, if at all. Defense lawyer asks Rushdie about book's blowback Matar's defense has argued that prosecutors can't prove his intent or mindset at the time