The New Jersey man accused of stabbing writer Salman Rushdie on stage in New York state has been charged with tried homicide.
The alleged attacker, Hadi Matar, has been charged with tried homicide within the second diploma by the Chautauqua County District Attorney’s Office, Reuters reported.
Mr Matar, 24, from Fairview, New Jersey was taken to Chautauqua County jail late on Friday evening after he had been questioned by the authorities, Western New York News Now reported.
State police, the FBI, and the County DA are engaged on figuring out a motive for the assault. Mr Rushdie stays in hospital.
“The individual responsible for the attack yesterday, Hadi Matar, has now been formally charged with Attempted Murder in the Second Degree and Assault in the Second Degree,” Chautauqua County District Attorney Jason Schmidt mentioned in a press release on Saturday. “He was arraigned on these charges last night and remanded without bail.”
Investigators have been awaiting a warrant on Friday to look Mr Matar’s backpack. Police had additionally blocked the road in New Jersey the place a house believed to be related to the suspect is situated, based on Western New York News Now.
“Immediately after the attack, I was on scene to view the evidence in order to determine what needed to be further developed and preserved for prosecution,” Mr Schmidt added. “I then dispatched a prosecutor to stay with investigators and communicate information to me while I worked on a search warrant application which was signed last night by our County Court Judge, Hon David W Foley.”
“Execution of the legal authority provided to us by that warrant has already occurred and is ongoing. We are working closely with State Police, our local police agencies and federal law enforcement partners to fully develop the evidence,” he mentioned.
“We have been in touch with our counterparts in the State of New Jersey where the attacker is from to share information and assist them in helping us to better understand the planning and preparation which preceded the attack so that we and the different agencies involved can determine what, if any, additional charges should be asserted. This is the very early stage of what will invariably be a protracted legal process. We will try to be as transparent as we can without compromising the case,” the DA mentioned, based on the native outlet.
Mr Rushdie’s agent, Andrew Wylie, instructed The New York Times that the writer was on a ventilator on Friday evening and that he was unable to talk.
“Salman will likely lose one eye – the nerves in his arm were severed, and his liver was stabbed and damaged,” Mr Wylie instructed the paper. “The news is not good.”
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Source: www.impartial.co.uk