Hadi Matar looks down as a Chautauqua County jury states that they have found him guilty in an attack at Chautauqua Institution. P-J photos by Gregory Bacon

MAYVILLE – District Attorney Jason Schmidt stood before members of the media Friday afternoon after learning that a jury found a New Jersey man guilty of both second-degree attempted murder and second-degree assault following an attack at Chautauqua Institution two and a half years ago on an award-winning author.

He was both filled with adrenaline as well as relief, thankful that he was able to bring the attack to a conclusion.

“As results of the changes of the laws in the last several years, it’s a big challenge for us to get from an event that gives rise to a criminal charge to trial,” Schmidt said.

Schmidt admitted this case was a lot easier to prosecute than other ones, particularly because of the number of witnesses and actual video footage of Hadi Matar stabbing world-renowned author Salman Rushdie multiple times Aug. 12, 2022, while on stage at the Institution’s Amphitheater.

But that didn’t mean he was going to take a conviction for granted.

Over an eight-day period, Schmidt played multiple videos of the attack, as well as had a number of witnesses testify. Among those who spoke were Rushdie himself as well as Henry Reece who was also stabbed in the attack.

When the assault took place, several staff and audience members at Chautauqua Institution rushed the stage to stop the attack.

Because of their heroic actions, Schmidt said he always had them in mind when prosecuting the case.

“The Chautauqua Institution community … I believe saved Mr. Rushdie’s life when they intervened,” he said. “They risked their lives to jump on stage.”

During closing arguments earlier in the day, the defense team argued that the prosecution failed to show any sense of intent of Matar to kill Rushdie. Assistant Public Defender Andrew Brautigam tried to allege that it was simply an assault that the jury saw on video.

“It was upsetting viewing in some ways but they did not give you anything that you would need to determine Mr. Matar’s state of mind,” Brautigam said. “There is simply no exhibit that you can point to, nothing you can review to what Mr. Matar intended that day.”

But Schmidt fought back against that claim. He noted just because we can’t read Matar’s mind, that doesn’t mean we don’t know what his intent was.

He noted how the attack was targeted, how many times Matar stabbed Rushdie, and the locations of the stab wounds, including to his eye, liver and neck.

After the trial Public Defender Nathaniel Barone continued to assert that his client was “overcharged” due to Rushdie’s status as a public figure. He said he will be filing an appeal.

Schmidt said after the trial that they are confident in the jury’s decision and will continue to defend their ruling.

The jury made its decision in less than two hours.

Sentencing is set for April 23.

Matar faces up to 25 years in jail for the two charges, assuming the court runs them concurrently. Schmidt said the way the law works, he does not believe the court can sentence Matar consecutively. If it did, Matar would face an additional seven years in jail.

Matar is also facing federal charges, including attempting to provide material support to Hezbollah, a designated foreign terrorist organization; engaging in an act of terrorism transcending national boundaries; and providing material support to terrorists.

If found guilty of the federal charges, Matar could be sentenced to life in prison.

A fatwa endorsed by Hezbollah called for the death of Rushdie in 1989, following the publication of Rushdie’s book “The Satanic Verses,” which has been banned in Iran since it was published, as many Muslims consider it to be blasphemous.

The federal government has alleged Matar was attempting to carry out that fatwa.

Barone is representing Matar in that case as well. He said they are in the very early stages and does not have a timeline as to when the case could go to trial.