MAYVILLE, N.Y.: The New Jersey man on trial in the 2022 stabbing of author Salman Rushdie declined to testify in his defense Thursday as his lawyers rested their case without calling any witnesses.
“No, I do not,” Hadi Matar, 27, said when asked by Chautauqua County Judge David Foley whether he wished to take the stand.
Earlier Thursday, prosecutors called a forensics expert as their final witness, wrapping up seven days of witness testimony, most notably from Rushdie himself.
The lawyers are scheduled to deliver closing arguments Friday, followed by jury deliberations.
Matar is on trial in Chautauqua County Court in western New York on charges of attempted murder and assault for the attack at the nearby Chautauqua Institution that left Rushdie, 77, blind in one eye and with other serious injuries. City of Asylum founder Henry Reese, who was appearing with Rushdie, suffered a gash above his eye.
Throughout the trial, Matar, who is from Fairview, New Jersey, was often seen taking notes and speaking with his attorneys. On several occasions while being brought in or out of the courtroom, he declared, “Free Palestine” to news cameras. But defense attorneys had declined to say whether he intended to testify.
Although Matar’s lawyers declined to call any witnesses of their own, they sought to challenge prosecution witnesses as part of a strategy intended to cast doubt on whether Matar intended to kill, and not just injure, Rushdie. The distinction is important for an attempted murder conviction.
Matar came armed with a knife, not a gun, attorneys said, and Rushdie survived the stabbing, which they noted witnesses had described as a “skirmish” or “scuffle.”
“We’ve argued from the beginning that they have not, at least in our opinion, proven any type of intent to murder,” Public Defender Nathaniel Barone told reporters outside the courtroom.
He suggested Matar likely would have faced a lesser charge of assault were it not for Rushdie’s public profile.
“We think that it became an attempted murder because of the notoriety of the alleged victim in the case,” Barone said.
Rushdie was stabbed and slashed more than a dozen times in the head, throat, torso, thigh and hand in an unprovoked attack as he prepared to participate in a discussion about keeping writers safe. He spent 17 days in a Pennsylvania hospital and more than three weeks at a New York City rehabilitation center.
Matar also faces trial in US District Court in Buffalo on a separate federal indictment charging him with attempting to provide material support to the militant group Hezbollah.
The man accused of stabbing Salman Rushdie declines to take the stand as the defense rests
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The man accused of stabbing Salman Rushdie declines to take the stand as the defense rests
Trump says Greenland will ‘work out’ after Denmark fails to bridge gap
- Trump has appeared emboldened on Greenland — which he views as in the US backyard — since ordering a deadly January 3 attack in Venezuela that removed president Nicolas Maduro
WASHINGTON, United States: US President Donald Trump held open the possibility Wednesday for a resolution on his designs over Greenland after Denmark’s top diplomat said he failed to change the administration’s mind on wanting to conquer the island.
The foreign ministers of Denmark and Greenland, an autonomous territory under Copenhagen’s sovereignty, met at the White House with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio in a meeting the visitors had requested to clear up “misunderstandings” after Trump’s bellicose language toward the fellow NATO member.
Trump, speaking after the meeting which he did not attend, for the first time sounded conciliatory on Greenland, acknowledging Denmark’s interests even if he again said he was not ruling out any options.
“I have a very good relationship with Denmark, and we’ll see how it all works out. I think something will work out,” Trump said without explaining further.
He again said Denmark was powerless if Russia or China wanted to occupy Greenland, but added: “There’s everything we can do.”
Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen, speaking after leaving the White House, said a US takeover of Greenland was “absolutely not necessary.”
“We didn’t manage to change the American position. It’s clear that the president has this wish of conquering over Greenland,” Lokke told reporters.
“We therefore still have a fundamental disagreement, but we also agree to disagree.”
He said the issue was “very emotional” for the people of Greenland and Denmark, a steadfast US ally whose troops died alongside Americans in Afghanistan and, controversially, Iraq.
“Ideas that would not respect territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Denmark and the right of self-determination of the Greenlandic people are, of course, totally unacceptable,” Lokke said.
He nonetheless said the tone was “constructive” and said the sides would form a committee that would meet within weeks to see if there was possible headway.
Referring to the British prime minister who trumpeted his diplomacy with Hitler, Lokke said, “I am not a Chamberlain to say “Peace for our time,” but we must seize the opportunities that present themselves.”
Mocking tone
While the talks were underway, the White House posted on X: “Which way, Greenland man?“
The post included a drawing of two dogsleds — one heading toward the White House and a huge US flag, and the other toward Chinese and Russian flags over a lightning-bathed Kremlin and Great Wall of China.
Neither country has claimed Greenland, and Lokke said no Chinese ship had been spotted there in a decade and that there were no major Chinese investments.
Denmark promised ahead of the meeting to ramp up its military presence further in the vast, sparsely populated and strategically located island.
Trump has derided recent Danish efforts to increase security for Greenland as amounting to “two dogsleds.” Denmark says it has invested almost $14 billion in Arctic security.
Denmark also announced immediate military exercises that will include aircraft, vessels and soldiers, with Sweden also participating.
In another show of solidarity with Denmark following Trump’s threats, Germany and France both said Wednesday they will send troops to Greenland. German’s defense ministry said it would send a 13-person team.
Signs of relief
On the quiet streets of the capital Nuuk, red and white Greenlandic flags flew in shop windows, on apartment balconies, and on cars and buses, in a show of national unity during the talks.
Ivaana Egede Larsen, 43, said she felt relief that the meeting appeared to be cordial.
“I am more calm now, and I feel more safe. I had felt very much unsafe lately,” she said.
In Copenhagen, Thomas Fallesen, 56, voiced similar sentiments.
“They are now at least talking together instead of talking through the press. I think it’s a very positive thing,” he said.
Vance, who slammed Denmark as a “bad ally” during an uninvited visit to Greenland last year, is known for a hard edge, which was on display when he publicly berated Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office last February.
Wednesday’s meeting, however, was closed to the press, meaning there was no on-camera confrontation.
Trump has appeared emboldened on Greenland — which he views as in the US backyard — since ordering a deadly January 3 attack in Venezuela that removed president Nicolas Maduro.
