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# Man convicted in federal terrorism trial for stabbing author Salman Rushdie in 2022PUBLISHED 1:19 AM ET Jul. 20, 2026PUBLISHED 1:19 AM EDT Jul. 20, 2026BUFFALO, N.Y. —A man was convicted Wednesday of federal terrorism charges in the 2022 stabbing of Salman Rushdie, the author who has faced a decades-old death threat over his novel “The Satanic Verses.”A jury found Hadi Matar guilty of all the charges against him, including engaging in an act of transnational terrorism.Matar, 28, is already serving a 25-year New York state prison sentence on an attempted murder conviction in the August 2022 attack on an amphitheater stage. The federal conviction carries a potential life sentence.Sentencing is scheduled to take place on Nov. 3.Jury deliberations took less than two hours on Wednesday.Matar’s lawyer on Tuesday told the court that the 28-year-old — who already has been convicted of state-level attempted murder charges — wouldn’t take the stand at his federal terrorism trial, on charges that include engaging in an act of transnational terrorism.“At this time, the defense rests,” attorney Nathaniel Barone said. Matar has pleaded not guilty.Prosecutors also rested their case Tuesday. Rushdie, the prize-winning author, testified last week about the 2022 attack that nearly killed him and left him blind in one eye.Rushdie, who was about to speak on writers’ safety, was slashed 15 times in front of a stunned audience. He was gravely wounded and lost the sight in his right eye.#### **Matar’s defense: No evidence of his state of mind**Prosecutors asserted that Matar was motivated by the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini ’s 1989 call for Rushdie’s death because of “The Satanic Verses.” Defense lawyer Nathaniel Barone countered that the government had no proof of what was in Matar’s head.