Salman Rushdie attacker convicted on US terrorism charges
What's next: Hadi Matar, already serving 25 years for attempted murder, could now face life in prison in federal court.
Hadi Matar, the man imprisoned for the 2022 stabbing of Salman Rushdie, was convicted Wednesday in federal court in Buffalo, New York, on terrorism-related charges tied to Hezbollah. A jury found Matar guilty of providing material support to the Lebanese group and committing an act of transnational terrorism. Prosecutors argued he spent two years planning the attack and was driven by a long-standing fatwa calling for Rushdie's death after publication of "The Satanic Verses." Rushdie testified that he was stabbed 15 times and nearly died, telling jurors the knife came within millimeters of his brain. Matar is already serving a 25-year sentence after a 2025 state conviction for attempted murder.