We know a little more about Salman Rushdie’s assailant. The man suspected of having attacked the author of the satanic verses This Friday in the United States there would be a 24-year-old from New Jersey, and his name would be Hadi Matar, indicates the American police.
“We believe that the aggressor” acted “alone”, said a manager during a press conference.
Hadi Matar “had a venue access card” for the conference that should have been handed over by Salman Rushdie “like any other participant,” authorities said. After assaulting the famous author, the assailant was subdued by members of the public, before police took him into custody.
“It is still early to indicate the reasons for this act (…) but the cause of this attack will be determined,” promises the chief of the New York State Police, who indicates that the investigation has been handed over to the FBI.
Security vulnerabilities?
On Friday night French time, Salman Rushdie was still in hospital, doctors desperately trying to save his life.
If the investigation has only just begun, the US authorities stress that the security of the event that the author was going to attend “was quite light”. Witnesses told CNN there were no body searches for the public and no metal detectors. However, Salman Rushdie has been the subject of multiple death threats since 1989.
Source: BFM TV
