Mother of NJ man charged in Salman Rushdie attack sheds light on life – NorthJersey.com

Authorities search New Jersey residence of Hadi Matar

Fairview police closed Morningside Avenue in the borough on Friday, Aug. 12, 2022 as authorities search the home of Hadi Matar, who was arrested following an attack on Salman Rushdie in Chautauqua, N.Y.

Anne-Marie Caruso, NorthJersey.com

Silvana Fardos, mother of the accused attacker of author Salman Rushdie, darted out of her two-story tan brick home in Fairview on Tuesday afternoon and ducked into a maroon sedan, a hat and medical mask covering her face. Reporters who had camped out on the quiet street shouted questions, but Fardos replied that she had nothing left to say" and drove away.

Four days before, a man authorities say is her son, Hadi Matar, stunned the world when he rushed onto a stage in western New York and stabbed the renowned author repeatedly in the neck, stomach and right eye. Rushdie, 75, remains hospitalized with serious injuries.

Matar, 24, who lives with his mother in Fairview, hadnt been born when the former Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Khomeini, called for Rushdies death over passages in his novel, The Satanic Verses, that some Muslims viewed as blasphemous. But on Friday, authorities said he charged the stage in a frenzy, stabbing Rushdie around 10 times until attendees were able to pull him away.

What we know:Iran denies involvement, justifies attack on Rushdie

Since the brazen and bloody attack, a picture has started to emerge of a young man who in recent years had seemed isolated and depressed to those around him, including his mother. He also had grown fixated on religion and admired Khomeini and Irans Revolutionary Guard, posting images of Iranian figures on his social media.

In a weekend interview with the Daily Mail, Fardos said she was shell-shocked by the news of her sons arrest, which she learned about when her daughter, 14, called her saying the FBI was at their home. Still, his withdrawn behavior prior to the attack had seemed to trouble her.

New Jersey:Suspect in Salman Rushdie attack from Bergen County

Fardos told the tabloid that Matar had been moody and introverted and isolated himself in the basement of their home on Morningside Street. He sleeps during the day and wakes and eats during the night," she said. "He lives in the basement. He cooks his own food.

Matar was born and raised in California and moved to New Jersey in recent years, law enforcement authorities said. His parents divorced in 2004, and his father returned to his native Lebanon. Matar changed after traveling to Lebanon for a month in 2018 to visit his father, Fardos told the Daily Mail.

She hoped the trip would motivate him to finish school and get a job but instead he seemed more withdrawn and more religious upon his return and didnt say anything to me or his sisters for months. He criticized her for not giving him a strict Muslim upbringing, she told the paper.

Fardos shed more light on that trip in an interview with a Lebanese television station late Tuesday. In Lebanon, Matar's father refused to see him, Fardos told Al-Jadeed TV in Arabic, alleging that her son was treated poorly by his father.

She said her son grew up enjoying festivities for Christmas and Halloween and read both the Bible and the Quran, although he identified as Muslim. She said she "raised an angel" and that he was a good boy, but that he had changed after a trip to see his father and returned deeply depressed.

At the State of Fitness Boxing Club in North Bergen, where Matar was a member, staff and gym users described him as quiet and a loner.

Several of our members and coaches made efforts to get to know him and pull him into the fellowship of our tight-knit club, as we do with all our members, owner Desmond Boyle said in a statement posted online. It was, however, obvious that he wanted to keep to himself in a quiet and sad manner.

Health news:NJ adds monkeypox vaccine sites for people at high risk of the disease

Police officials have not explained the suspect's motives. They are looking into his social media accounts, which showed images of Khomeini and appeared sympathetic to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps that Khomeini founded, according to reports.

Khomeini issued a fatwa, or religious edict,calling on Muslims to kill Rushdie for blasphemy, in 1989.

Irans government has long since distanced itself from Khomeinis decree, but anti-Rushdie sentiment lingered. In 2012, a semi-official Iranian religious foundation raised the bounty for Rushdie from $2.8 million to $3.3 million, USA TODAY reported.

On Saturday, Matar pleaded not guilty in Chautauqua County Court to attempted murder and assault charges in connection with the attack at The Chautauqua Institute, a nonprofit education and retreat center. He is being held without bail in the Chautauqua County Jail.

Suspect in Rushdie attack pleads not guilty

The man accused of a stabbing attack on "Satanic Verses" author Salman Rushdie has entered a not-guilty plea to charges of attempted murder and assault. (Aug.13) (AP video: Carolyn Thompson)

AP

In her interview on Lebanese television, Fardos was asked if she wanted to see her son. She said she did not. I always talked to him about the future," she said. "Now there is no future.

Go here to see the original:
Mother of NJ man charged in Salman Rushdie attack sheds light on life - NorthJersey.com