Mother Of Man Who Stabbed Salman Rushdie Claims Her Son Changed After Visiting Lebanon

The mother of the New Jersey man who attacked author Salman Rushdie at a literary event in 2018 says her son "changed" after his trip to Lebanon. Hadi Matar was detained on Friday after stabbing Salman Rushdie ten times, including in the neck and abdomen.

Salman rushdie attacked

Matar dashed onto the stage as the author prepared to lecture in New York. According to the New York Police Department, Matar is facing charges of attempted murder and assault (NYPD).

In an interview with the Daily Mail, Matar's mother, Silvana Fardos, said that her extroverted son became unhappy and withdrawn after seeing his father.

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"I was expecting him to return motivated, complete school, get his degree, and get a job. But instead, he locked himself in the basement. He had changed a lot, he didn't say anything to me or his sisters for months," she told Daily mail.

Lebanese parents gave birth to Matar in the US. Matar, who had confined himself in the basement, according to Ms. Fardos, 46, had prohibited her from visiting down.

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He slept throughout the day and remained up at night.

"One time, he argued with me, asking why I encouraged him to get an education instead of focusing on religion. He was angry that I did not introduce him to Islam from a young age," she said.

Photos & information have emerged about the Muslim extremist suspect accused of repeatedly stabbing author Salman Rushdie (he was accused of blasphemy) in western New York. Suspect Hadi Matar, 24, of Fairview, NJ, had multiple posts in support of Iran & Shia Islam on Facebook pic.twitter.com/b1cGxm00Qc

¡ª Andy Ng? ???? (@MrAndyNgo) August 12, 2022

The mother said to Daily Mail that before receiving a panicked phone from her daughter on Friday, she had never heard of Mr. Rushdie.

"I never read any of his books. I didn't know that such a writer even existed. I had no knowledge that my son ever read his book," said Ms. Fardos.

But she said that the family would continue "without him."

"As I told the FBI, I will not bother talking to him again. He's responsible for his actions. I have another two minors that I need to take care of. They are upset; they're shocked. All we can do is try to move on from this without him."

Matar made his court appearance on Saturday and entered a not guilty plea to the accusations against him.

Based on an initial analysis of his social media (IRGC), Matar appeared to be sympathetic to "Shia extremism" and the aims of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard.

Even though Matar and the IRGC had no direct connections, investigators discovered pictures of the murdered 2020 Iranian commander Qassem Solemani on Matar's cell phone messaging app.

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