The attack, which shocked the literary world, happened about 11 a.m., shortly after Mr. Rushdie, 75, took the stage for a lecture at the Chautauqua Foundation, a community that offers arts and literary programming during the summer. Mr. Rushdie was airlifted to a local hospital, state police said in a statement. His condition is not yet known. His agent, Andrew Wylie, said in an email on Friday afternoon that Mr. Rushdie was undergoing surgery. The attacker’s motive was not clear. Linda Abrams, from the Buffalo area, who was sitting in the front row, said the attacker continued to try to attack Mr Rushdie even after he was restrained. “It took about five men to pull him away and he was still stabbing,” she said. “He was furious, furious. Like intensely strong and simply fast.” Rita Landman, an endocrinologist who was in the audience, said Mr Rushdie had multiple stab wounds, including one to the right side of his neck, and there was a pool of blood under his body. But she said he appeared to be alive. “People were saying, ‘He’s got a pulse, he’s got a pulse he’s got a pulse,’” Ms. Landman said. Mr. Rushdie had taken care moments after the attack. Suzanne Nossel, executive director of PEN America, which promotes free expression, said “we can’t think of any similar incident of a public attack on a literary writer on American soil.” “Just hours before the attack, on Friday morning, Salman emailed me to help with placements for Ukrainian writers who need safe haven from the serious dangers they face,” she said in a statement. “Salman Rushdie has been targeted for his words for decades, but he never flinched or faltered.” Mr Rushdie spent about 10 years under police protection, in hiding after Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Iran’s Supreme Leader after the 1979 Iranian Revolution, sought his execution in 1989 because his novel The Satanic Verses was deemed offensive for Islam. The book was banned in India, where it was born, and was banned from the country for more than a decade. Mr. Rushdie had just taken the stage to deliver the morning lecture in the 4,000-seat auditorium of the Chautauqua Institute, a gated community that includes an arts and literary program each summer, when he was attacked, witnesses said. He was there for a discussion about the United States as a safe haven for exiled writers and other artists threatened with persecution. The discussion was scheduled to be moderated by Henry Reese, the co-founder of a Pittsburgh nonprofit, City of Asylum, which is a residency program for exiled writers. Mr. Rushdie had just sat down and was giving a presentation when the assailant rushed on stage and attacked him. “I could just see his fists hitting Salman,” said one witness, Bill Vasu, 72. Several people rushed to Mr. Rushdi’s aid, Mr. Vasu said, and quickly pinned the assailant to the ground. A trooper assigned to the event arrested the attacker, police said. The person who interviewed Mr Rushdie also suffered a minor head injury. New York Governor Kathy Hochul said on Twitter that she had ordered state police to assist in the investigation and that “our thoughts are with Salman and his loved ones following this horrific incident.” Several witnesses said the attacker was able to easily get to Mr Rushdie by running onto the stage and approaching him from behind. “There was only one attacker,” said Elisabeth Healey, 75, who was in the audience. “He was dressed in black. She was wearing a loose black garment. He ran at lightning speed to him.’ “It was very scary and it made a pit in my stomach,” said Jane Bulette, 68, who has been coming for more than a decade. “How could they not have blocked the stairs to the stage?” “There was a huge security lapse,” said Mrs Bulette’s husband John, 85, who witnessed the attack. “That someone could get so close without any interference was terrifying.” Kyle Doershuk, 20, was working as an usher at the auditorium at the time of the attack. He said he was about 15 feet away from the attacker as he began rushing the scene with a knife after dropping a backpack. By the time Mr. Doorschuk realized something was wrong, the attack had begun. Mr Doershuk said security at the Foundation was lax and there appeared to be no additional measures in place for Mr Rushdie’s visit. “It’s very open, it’s very accessible, it’s a very relaxed environment,” he said. “In my opinion, something like this was waiting to happen.” Another eyewitness, Anita Ayerbe, 57, said she saw the attacker on the grounds of the Foundation on Thursday afternoon near the auditorium and that he was able to access the stage easily. “The auditorium is a soft target,” Ms. Ayerbe said. “There was no obvious security in place and he ran unimpeded. The police were not the first on the scene.” “The Satanic Verses” were considered blasphemous by some Muslims because they fictionalized part of the life of the Prophet Muhammad. Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa in 1989 ordering Muslims to kill Mr. Rushdie. The Iranian government publicly supported the fatwa for 10 years, until at least 1998, when Iran’s president, Mohammad Khatami, declared that Iran no longer supported the assassination. However, the fatwa remains in place, reportedly with a grant from an Iranian religious foundation of about $3.3 million since 2012. Mr Rushdie published a memoir, ‘Joseph Anton’, about the fatwa. The title came from the pseudonym he used when in hiding, from the first names of Joseph Conrad and Anton Chekhov. In recent years, Mr. Rushdie has been enjoying a more public life in New York. In 2019, he spoke at a private club in Manhattan to promote his novel, “Quicotte.” Security at the event was relaxed and Mr Rushdie mingled freely with guests and then dined with club members. Jay Root reported from Chautauqua, New York, David Gelles from Putnam Valley, New York and Elizabeth Harris from New York.
