Salman Rushdie tells court knife came "a millimetre from my brain" during 2022 attack

Sir Salman Rushdie has told a court that the knife used in the 2022 attack that left him seriously injured came "a millimetre from my brain" as he gave evidence at the terrorism trial of the man accused of carrying out the assault.

The author described the life-changing injuries he sustained after being repeatedly stabbed while preparing to speak at an event in Chautauqua, New York, in August 2022. Rushdie lost sight in one eye and suffered severe damage to his hand and internal organs following the attack.

During his testimony, Rushdie recalled the lasting physical and emotional impact of the assault, describing the extent of his injuries and his recovery in the years since.

"I was on the stage, lying down, with an enormous pool of blood all around me," he said.

"It was an enormous and expansive lake of blood."

The attack came more than three decades after Iran's former supreme leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a fatwa calling for Rushdie's death following the publication of his 1988 novel The Satanic Verses, which was deemed blasphemous by some Muslims.

Rushdie has since chronicled his experience in the memoir Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder, published in 2024, reflecting on the attack, its aftermath and his return to public life.

Rushdie's attacker, Hadi Matar, is currently on trial on federal terrorism charges after being convicted of attempted murder over the 2022 stabbing. Prosecutors allege the New Jersey man carried out the attack in support of the 1989 fatwa issued against Rushdie over The Satanic Verses, and accuse him of acting on behalf of the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah.

Matar has pleaded not guilty to the terrorism charges and faces a possible life sentence if convicted.