MAYVILLE, N.Y. (AP) 鈥� Salman Rushdie described in graphic detail Tuesday the frenzied moments in 2022 when a masked man rushed at him on a stage in western New York and repeatedly slashed him with a knife, leaving him with terrible injuries and fearful he would die.
Rushdie took the stand during the second day of testimony at the trial of Hadi Matar, 27, who has pleaded not guilty to attempted murder and assault in the attack that also wounded another man. It was the first time since the stabbing that the 77-year-old author found himself in the same room as the man accused of trying to kill him.
Rushdie recalled feeling 鈥渁 sense of great pain and shock, and aware of the fact that there was an enormous quantity of blood that I was lying in" after the attack.
鈥淚t occurred to me that I was dying. That was my predominant thought,鈥� he said, adding that the people who subdued his assailant likely saved his life.
As he recounted the attack, his wife, Rachel Eliza Griffiths, cried from her seat in the courtroom鈥檚 second row.
鈥淚 only saw him at the last minute,鈥� Rushdie said of the man who rushed across the stage at the Chautauqua Institution and stabbed him repeatedly with a 10-inch blade.
鈥淚 was aware of someone wearing black clothes, or dark clothes and a black face mask. I was very struck by his eyes, which were dark and seemed very ferocious."
Rushdie said he first thought his knife-wielding attacker was striking him with a fist.
鈥淏ut I saw a large quantity of blood pouring onto my clothes,鈥� he said. 鈥淗e was hitting me repeatedly. Hitting and slashing.鈥�
Rushdie said he was struck again in his chest and torso and stabbed in his chest as he struggled to get away.
鈥淚 was very badly injured. I couldn鈥檛 stand up any more. I fell down," he said.
Rushdie was blinded in one eye in the attack.
He spent 17 days at a Pennsylvania hospital and more than three weeks at a New York City rehabilitation center, where he had to re-learn basic skills like squeezing toothpaste from a tube. He detailed his months of recovery released last year.
鈥淚 think I鈥檓 not quite at 100%. I think I鈥檝e substantially recovered but it鈥檚 probably 75 to 80%," Rushdie testified. 鈥淚鈥檓 not as energetic as I used to be. I鈥檓 not as physically strong as I used to be.鈥�
Matar, who was seated about 20 feet (6 meters) away from Rushdie in the courtroom, often looked down during his testimony.
Lynn Schaffer, a public defender representing Matar, began the cross examination by asking the Booker Prize-winning author about his career. The questioning was brief, low-key and for a moment friendly. She asked Rushdie if he would be surprised that 鈥橞ridget Jones鈥檚 Diary,鈥� in which he makes a cameo, was her favorite movie.
鈥淚 am surprised,鈥� Rushdie said, joking that it was his 鈥渕ost important work.鈥�
The only hint at a possible defense strategy was a question about whether trauma can affect memories.
Rushdie acknowledged that he has a false memory, that he thought he stood up when he saw the attacker approaching, but that wasn鈥檛 true.
She then challenged him to remember how many times he was struck.
鈥淚 wasn鈥檛 counting at the time. I was otherwise occupied. But afterward I could see them on my body. I didn鈥檛 need to be told by anybody.鈥�
No one asked Rushdie to identify his attacker in court and he declined to be interviewed as he left the courthouse after about an hour of testimony.
Security was notably tighter ahead of Rushdie's appearance, with several law enforcement vehicles parked outside the courthouse.
On Monday, staffers at the Chautauqua Institution 鈥� the nonprofit art and education center where the attack happened about 75 miles (120 kilometers) south of Buffalo 鈥� testified about the attack.
The trial is expected to last up to two weeks.
Jurors are unlikely to hear about a fatwa issued by the late Iranian leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini calling for Rushdie鈥檚 death, according to District Attorney Jason Schmidt. Rushdie, the author of 鈥淢idnight鈥檚 Children鈥� and 鈥淰ictory City,鈥� spent years in hiding after Khomeini announced the following publication of the novel 鈥淭he Satanic Verses,鈥� which some Muslims consider blasphemous
Schmidt has said discussing Matar鈥檚 motive will be unnecessary in the state trial, given the attack was seen by a live audience that was expecting to hear Rushdie present a lecture on keeping writers safe.
鈥淭his is not a case of mistaken identity,鈥� Schmidt said during opening statements Monday. 鈥淢r. Matar is the person who attacked Mr. Rushdie without provocation.鈥�
Schaffer, the defense lawyer, told jurors that the case is not as straightforward as prosecutors have made it out to be.
鈥淭he elements of the crime are more than `something really bad happened鈥� 鈥� they鈥檙e more defined,鈥� Schaffer said. 鈥淪omething bad did happen, something very bad did happen, but the district attorney has to prove much more than that.鈥�
In a separate indictment, federal authorities allege Matar was driven to act by a terrorist organization鈥檚 2006 endorsement of the fatwa. A later trial on federal terrorism charges will be scheduled in U.S. District Court in Buffalo.
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Associated Press writer Dave Collins in Hartford, Connecticut, contributed to this report.
Carolyn Thompson And Hillel Italie, The Associated Press
