Jury convicts Hadi Matar, 27, charged with trying to kill author at literary gathering in New York state in 2022

A jury on Friday afternoon convicted the man who was charged with stabbing and trying to kill the author Salman Rushdie as he delivered a lecture at a literary gathering in western New York state in 2022.

Jurors in Chautauqua county quickly declared the defendant, Hadi Matar, 27, from New Jersey, guilty. They had received the case after lawyers delivered their closing arguments, wrapping up seven days of testimony that included a vivid account from Rushdie of how he was certain he was going to die after being rushed on stage by a man with a knife.