Salman Rushdie's attacker says he acted alone

The 24yearold man charged with the attempted murder of Salman Rushdie has denied being in contact with Irans Revolutionary Guard Corps and said that he acted alone when he stabbed the Mumbaiborn author whom he disliked for being disingenuousHadi Matar of Fairview in New Jersey was arrested last week and charged with seconddegree attempted murder and assault after he stabbed Rushdie 75 onstage at an event at the Chautauqua Institution in New York stateIn a video interview to the New York Post from Chautauqua County Jail Matar said that When I heard he survived I was surprised I guessRushdie suffered three stab wounds to his neck four stab wounds to his stomach puncture wounds to his right eye and chest and a laceration on his right thigh Chautauqua County District Attorney Jason Schmidt said during the suspects arraignmentMatar did not respond on whether he was inspired by Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini who had issued a fatwa calling for Rushdies death in 1989 after iquestThe Satanic Versesiquest was publishedI respect the Ayatollah I think hes a great person Thats as far as I will say about that Matar told The PostHe noted that he had only read like two pages of Rushdies controversial novel I read a couple of pages I didnt read the whole thing cover to cover he saidThe report said that Matar who was born in the US to parents from southern Lebanon denied being in contact with Irans Revolutionary Guard Corps IRGC and alluded to acting completely aloneThe IRGC is a major military and political force in Iran However no link has been definitively established between Matar and the IRGCMatar said he was inspired to go to Chautauqua after seeing a tweet sometime in the winter announcing Rushdies visitI dont like the person I dont think hes a very good person he said about Rushdie I dont like him I dont like him very much Hes someone who attacked Islam he attacked their beliefs the belief systems The Post report saidMatar said he was less familiar with Rushdies written work but had watched his videos on YouTube I saw a lot of lecturesiquest he said iquestI dont like people who are disingenuous like thatIn the nearly 15minutelong interview to The Post Wednesday Matar spoke about how he took a bus from New Jersey to Buffalo a day before the Friday attack and then grabbed a ride to ChautauquaI was hanging around pretty much Not doing anything in particular just walking around Matar said adding that he iquestslept in the grass outside Thursday night a day before the attackI was just outside the whole timePublic defender Nathaniel Barone who represents Matar has said that he pleaded not guilty to charges of seconddegree attempted murder and seconddegree assault with intent to cause physical injury with a deadly weaponMatar faces up to 32 years if convictedThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever