Author Salman Rushdie was reportedly stabbed in the neck before he was set to speak in Chautauqua, New York..Witnesses said a man stormed the stage at the Chautauqua Institution and began stabbing Rushdie, 75, in the neck as he was being introduced. The novelist fell to the floor and the perpetrator was detained.."Rushdie suffered an apparent stab wound to the neck, and was transported by helicopter to an area hospital," a press release said. "His condition is not yet known.".The attacker was later named by police as Hadi Matar, 24, of Fairview, New Jersey..The New York Post said an initial investigation suggests Hadi is sympathetic to the Iranian regime and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard..The interviewer suffered a minor head injury. A State Trooper assigned to the event immediately took the suspect into custody. The Chautauqua County Sheriff’s Office assisted at the scene..Rushdie's best-selling book, The Satanic Verses, has been banned in Iran since 1988, as many Muslims consider it to be blasphemous. Iran's former leader Ayatollah Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a call for Rushdie’s death..Iran’s government has long since distanced itself from Khomeini’s decree, but anti-Rushdie sentiment lingered. In 2012, a semi-official Iranian religious foundation raised the bounty for Rushdie from $2.8 million to $3.3 million..Rushdie dismissed the threat at the time, saying there was "no evidence" of people being interested in killing him for the reward."
