The Satanic Verses author Salman Rushdie has been attacked on stage in the state of New York while delivering a speech at a Chautauqua Institution gathering.
A male suspect allegedly went up onto the platform and attacked Mr. Rushdie and an interviewer, according to the New York State Police.
According to the police statement, Rushdie “suffered an apparent stab wound to the neck.”
The author was flown by chopper to a nearby hospital. His condition is unknown at this time.
According to authorities, the suspect was brought into custody right away.
In a video that was uploaded online, spectators can be seen flocking to the stage right after the event.
Mr. Rushdie spent nine years in hiding after publishing The Satanic Verses, his fourth book, in 1988.
The surrealist, post-modern book was outlawed in several nations and caused controversy among some Muslims who thought its content was disrespectful.
Ayatollah Khomeini, the supreme leader of Iran, demanded the execution of Mr. Rushdie and offered a $3 millionreward one year after the book’s release.
The violence that erupted after its release claimed the lives of dozens of people, including the work’s translators who were killed.
Despite Iran’s government’s distancing from Khomeini’s order, the bounty on Mr. Rushdie’s head is still in place.
The author, who holds dual citizenship in the US and the UK, is a strong supporter of the right to free speech and has defended his writing on numerous occasions.
An artist at the location claimed that rehearsals had been proceeding normally up until the attack inside the amphitheatre this morning.
Since then, she added, the area has been under lockdown.