- Hadi Matar, 28, of Fairview, N.J., was convicted by a federal jury of attempting to provide material support to Hezbollah, engaging in an act of terrorism transcending national boundaries, and providing material support to terrorists.
- Prosecutors said Matar spent more than a year researching a fatwa calling for author Salman Rushdie’s execution before attempting to murder him during an Aug. 12, 2022, speaking event at the Chautauqua Institution in Mayville, N.Y. The fatwa was issued in 1989 by Iranian Supreme Leader Ruhollah Khomeini, reaffirmed in 2017 by Ali Khamenei and endorsed in 2006 by Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah.
- According to evidence presented at trial, Matar discussed the fatwa and Hezbollah’s endorsement of it with people in Iran, Australia and Canada; created videos combining material about the fatwa with Nasrallah’s endorsement; and traveled under a false name. He faces up to life in prison at his Nov. 3 sentencing.