Judge Affirms Conviction of Hadi Matar for Attempted Murder Under Terrorism Laws
A federal judge rejected Hadi Matar’s request for acquittal and upheld his conviction on all three terrorism counts for the stabbing of Salman Rushdie.
In United States v. Matar, Judge Richard Arcara denied the defendant’s motion for a judgment of acquittal, confirming the jury’s verdict on all three charges: attempting to provide material support to the designated foreign terrorist organization Hizballah, committing an act of terrorism transcending national boundaries, and supplying material support to terrorists. The prosecution linked Matar’s stabbing of Salman Rushdie at the Chautauqua Institution to the fatwa originally issued by Ayatollah Khomeini and later endorsed by Hassan Nasrallah and Ayatollah Khamenei.
Expert witness Dr. Matthew Levitt testified that Hizballah operates as an Iranian proxy and that Nasrallah’s 2006 broadcast called for action against Rushdie, which Matar incorporated into his own videos. The jury found that Matar acted as “personnel” and provided “services” to Hizballah, acting under its direction rather than independently. The court held that the evidence satisfied the statutory requirement of direction and control, and therefore upheld the conviction.
Why it matters
The ruling clarifies how U.S. terrorism statutes apply to attacks motivated by foreign extremist directives.
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