JK Rowling has said she is co-operating with police after receiving a death threat. Image: Alamy/Twitter
JK Rowling has said she is co-operating with police after receiving a death threat following her tweet reaction to Sir Salman Rushdie’s attack in New York.
The Harry Potter author, 57, shared screenshots on Twitter of a message from a user who had written “don’t worry you’re next” in response to her tweet that she felt “very sick” after hearing the news and hoped the novelist you will “be well”.
The Twitter user described himself as a “student, social activist, political activist and researcher” who has previously expressed support for Tehran’s theocratic dictator and called Israel, Ukraine and India “terrorist states”.
Rowling pointed to the support Twitter account in the post and said: “Any chance of some support?”
She later updated her followers on the situation, saying: “To everyone sending supportive messages: thank you.
“Police involved (already involved in other threats)”.
Read more: Salman Rushdie on ventilator, could lose eye after stabbing on stage in New York, agent says
The celebrated author has received death threats in the past for her views on transgender rights.
Rowling is among the writers and notables who have expressed their disbelief after Sir Salman was stabbed on stage in New York state.
The Indian-born British author, 75, whose writing led to death threats from Iran in the 1980s, was due to give a lecture at the Chautauqua Foundation when the incident occurred, leaving him with an apparent stab wound to the neck.
He is on a ventilator and may lose an eye and has nerve damage in his arm and liver, according to the New York Times.
On Friday, New York State Police named the suspected shooter as Hadi Matar, 24, of Fairview, New Jersey, who was taken into custody following the incident.
Read more: Police identify suspect after Salman Rushdie stabbed in neck and abdomen while on stage at New York event
Since the suspect was identified, people on social media have speculated whether the attack was linked to Iran’s former leader Ayatollah Khomeini, who had previously issued a fatwa calling for his death.
The call was issued following the publication of his book The Satanic Verses, which has been banned in Iran since 1988 as many Muslims consider it blasphemous.
