Bergen County man rejects plea deal over attack of author Salman Rushdie

A Bergen County man has rejected a plea deal in the attack of author Salman Rushdie at a lecture in Chautauqua, New York in 2022, authorities stated.

Hadi Matar, 26, of Fairview, was offered a plea deal by the U.S. Attorney’s office that would have covered both federal and state charges, stated a spokesperson from Chautauqua County who provided the update from District Attorney Jason Schmidt.

Under terms of the deal, Matar would plead guilty to the attempted murder charge in the state's case and then also plead guilty in federal court, the spokesperson said in an email.

Matar would have received a 20-year sentence in the New York case and an additional 10 to 20 years in the federal case for a total of 30 to 40 years in prison and then be subject to a lifetime of supervision after his release.

The case will now move forward with the trial scheduled to start on Sept. 9. The state charge of attempted murder in the second degree carries a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison, if he is convicted. He has also been charged with second-degree assault.

Matar is accused of rushing onto a stage in western New York on Aug. 12, 2022 and stabbing Rushdie repeatedly in the neck, stomach and right eye. The moderator Henry Reese was also injured in the attack.

Prosecutors have stated that Matar's attack was motivated by the fatwa, or death threat, issued by Iran's leadership after the author's 1988 novel "The Satanic Verses."

Rushdie’s new memoir entitled “Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder,” was published in April.

Rushdie and Reese are both expected to testify at the trial, the Erie Times-News has reported.

North Jersey ties

He had been living on Morningside Street in Fairview with his mother, Silvana Fardos, before his arrest after growing up in California. His parents divorced in 2004 and his father returned to his native Lebanon.

Matar was also a member of the State of Fitness Boxing Club in North Bergen, however, staff and gym members described him as quiet and a loner.

“Several of our members and coaches made efforts to get to know him and pull him into the fellowship of our tight-knit club, as we do with all our members,” owner Desmond Boyle said in a statement posted online after the attack. “It was, however, obvious that he wanted to keep to himself in a quiet and sad manner.”

In her interview on Lebanese television after her son's arrest, Fardos said, “I always talked to him about the future. Now there is no future.”