New York State Police stated he was stabbed and flown to a hospital. Kathy Hochul says he's alive and receiving care. She stated the attacker's identify will be revealed later.
People rushed to Mr. Rushdie's rescue after a man in "black clothes and a black mask" attacked him at Chautauqua Institution, 100 kilometres from the city. The attack minorly injured the talk's moderator. After attacking Mr. Rushdie, bystanders subdued the perpetrator.
Henry Reese and Salman Rushdie were to discuss "the US as asylum for writers and other artists in exile and as a home for freedom of creative expression" The attack occurred while Mr. Rushdie was being introduced at 11 am local (8:30 pm IST). 2,500 people were evacuated.
Rabbi Charles Savenor stated, "This guy ran on to platform and started pounding on Mr Rushdie," "What's going on? In seconds, it was evident he was being beaten." AP: The onslaught lasted 20 seconds.
Mr. Rushdie, 75, a British citizen of Indian heritage who has lived in the US for 20 years, has suffered threats for decades over his 1988 book, The Satanic Verses. The Iranian leader put a bounty on his head, but by 1998 the government said it wouldn't implement the 'fatwa'
Mr. Rushdie lived under government protection in the UK after The Satanic Verses scandal. In the 1990s, he wrote many novels criticising religious fundamentalism.
In 1981, he received the Booker Prize for Midnight's Children, a novel about modern India. Queen Elizabeth II knighted him in 2007 for literary services. He's written 12 books, including nonfiction.
Chautauqua Institution is in rural New York. Summer lectures are popular. There, Rushdie has spoken.