‘Danger to me is over’, author said prior to attack
Sir Salman Rushdie said he was living without tight security measures because he thought he was safe, just weeks before being brutally stabbed. The author told a German magazine the fatwa issued against him by the Ayatollah Khomeini was “long ago” and that his life was now “relatively normal”.
Yesterday, questions were being raised about why Salman’s attacker had not been required to undergo security checks that would have detected his knife before being allowed into the venue.
Organisers of the cultural festival where Salman was speaking had reportedly rejected extra security measures because it would change the “friendly feel and openness” of the event, and create a barrier between speakers and their audience.
The Sunday Telegraph understands that the suspect, Hadi Matar, 24, would have passed by a police officer, and a sniffer dog trained to detect explosives, before entering the amphitheatre.
But there were no metal detectors or bag searches conducted by hand, nor barriers around the stage to prevent anyone getting at the speakers.
New York state police did assign a trooper to the event, who was positioned next to the stage.
It was that officer who tackled the knifeman and ultimately arrested him, potentially helping to save Salman’s life in the process.
The Satanic Verses author was taken off a ventilator yesterday and able to talk.
Rushdie remained hospitalised with serious injuries, but fellow author Aatish Taseer tweeted in the evening that he was “off the ventilator and talking (and joking)”.
Earlier yesterday, the man accused of attacking him pleaded not guilty to attempted murder and assault charges in what a prosecutor called a “pre-planned” crime.
An attorney for Matar entered the plea on his behalf.
The suspect appeared in court wearing a black and white jumpsuit and a white face mask, with his hands cuffed in front of him.
A judge ordered him held without bail after District Attorney Jason Schmidt told her Matar, 24, took steps to purposely put himself in position to harm Rushdie, getting an advance pass to the event where the author was speaking and arriving a day early bearing a fake ID.
Salman had previously expressed his thoughts on the current security threat to him in an interview with Stern, the German magazine.
It was conducted two weeks ago but only published after the attack.
He told the magazine: “My life is very normal again. I was 36 when I started The Satanic Verses. I’m 75 now. It’s been four decades.”
He added that he believed that if social media had existed when he wrote the book, his situation would have been “infinitely more dangerous”.
The magazine reported that the author believed the danger was “over”. However, in a discussion about political violence in the US, Salman added: “The bad thing is, death threats have become commonplace. I’m an optimist by nature. I’m looking forward.”
After the attack, one witness said she initially thought it was a “stunt” but within seconds realised it was a savage attack. Members of the audience of about 2500 people rushed on to the stage. Amid chaotic scenes, some jumped on the attacker.
Salman has lived in the United States since 2000.
Baroness D’souza, a friend of the author, said Salman had known a day might come when he could be attacked.
She told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that two decades ago, the writer Graham Swift said at a dinner party: “I think there’s only one way this thing can end.”
“We all felt perhaps he’s right that the only way this is going to end is if Salman is actually attacked,” she said. “He lived with it for years and he knew. He knew.”