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When the defendant entered the courtroom, he was dressed respectably in a blue button-down shirt and dark slacks. When his presence was announced, he stood up, said “Good morning,” and gave all present a cheery wave. And thus began one of the most important trials of our age, although everyone involved is doing everything possible to ignore all the reasons why it is so important.
Hadi Matar finally went on trial Tuesday for attempting to murder the novelist Salman Rushdie back in Aug. 2022. There is little, if any, doubt about Matar’s guilt, even though he has pleaded not guilty, for he stabbed Rushdie multiple times in full view of a shocked crowd at the Chautauqua festival. Matar was supposed to have gone on trial in Jan. 2024, but Rushdie wrote a book about the attack, and Matar’s defense attorney, public defender Nathaniel Barone, received a delay in the trial so that he could review the book. It’s hard to fathom how what the victim thought about what happened might affect the guilt of his client, but nevertheless, Barone managed to delay the trial for over a year.
Now that it has begun, both Barone and his opposite number, Chautauqua County District Attorney Jason Schmidt, seem curiously intent on preventing any discussion of Matar’s motive. Matar tried to kill the man who, at the time of the stabbing had carried for 33 years the most famous bounty on his head since the days of the Wild West.
It was on Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14, 1989, that Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini called for Rushdie to be killed for supposedly blaspheming against Muhammad in his novel “The Satanic Verses.” By 2022, Iran’s bounty on Rushdie’s head was $3 million. Without Khomeini’s death fatwa on Rushdie, Matar wouldn’t have tried to kill him, and there would be no trial. Nevertheless, neither the prosecution nor the defense wants any talk of that as Matar is tried.
Matar himself was upfront about why he stabbed Rushdie. Back in Aug. 2022, he said: “I respect the ayatollah. I think he’s a great person. That’s as far as I will say about that.” Of Rushdie, Matar said: “I don’t like the person. I don’t think he’s a very good person. I don’t like him. I don’t like him very much. He’s someone who attacked Islam, he attacked their beliefs, the belief systems.” Matar isn’t the most articulate person in the world, but what he said was clear enough to establish that he wanted Rushdie dead in accord with Khomeini’s fatwa.
Schmidt, however, insists all that is irrelevant, saying: “Here, I don’t believe we have to get into issues of Mr. Matar’s religious beliefs, his nationality, and his background to prove an attempted murder charge, which is what we’re doing. The allegation is that Mr. Matar stabbed Mr. Rushdie and stabbed Mr. Reese in an unprovoked attack. Therefore, I think we can prove that without getting into matters that give rise to prejudice of our jury pool.”
Schmidt added: “From my standpoint, this is a localized event. It’s a stabbing event. It’s fairly straightforward. I don’t really see a need to get into motive evidence, whether that’s applicable or not applicable and what that consists of. I’d like to avoid all of that.”
Well, all right, but isn’t examination of motive ordinarily a staple of murder trials? There are numerous reasons for this, including determination of the gravity of the offense, and the likelihood of similar incidents in the future. But Barone is only too happy to leave Matar’s motives out of the trial, as he wanted jurors screened for dislike of Islam. “They’ve talked about the reason why this alleged crime supposedly occurred was because of this book involving Muslims, all that. So it’s kind of like the barn door’s been opened,” Barone said, and he wants that barn door closed.
All this is unfolding just days after Salwan Momika, an Iraqi critic of Islam, was murdered in Sweden for burning the Qur’an. The trial of Hadi Matar carries extraordinarily important implications for the future of the freedom of speech and freedom of expression in the West. Will Western countries defend the freedom of speech in connection to criticism of Islam, or abandon it? Hadi Matar blinded Salman Rushdie in one eye and caused permanent damage to one of his arms because of Rushdie’s criticism of Islam, and now at his trial, both attorneys want to pretend that this was some random and inexplicable murder attempt. The implication is that Hadi Matar was right to want Rushdie silenced, and now the attorneys are joining in the silencing.
The trial of Hadi Matar should instead be the occasion for a public discussion of how the freedom of speech and Islam’s death penalty for blasphemy can be compatible — if they can be at all. Instead, Schmidt and Barone have closed the door to any such discussion. One day, however, despite the West’s efforts to avoid it, this issue will be impossible to ignore.
It is up to Salman Rushdie to step up and blow the whistle…..so loudly that the legacy media cannot ignore it.
Or just stab Matard in the eye deep enough to pierce his tiny brain.
I read what you wrote. My immediate thought was “yeah!” And then I hesitated to upvote you because I had reactive shame. Then, I thought, “Nope. That just needs to be done.”
In the absence of justice from government, what else can people to do?
They can do what Daniel Penny did and then pray the government doesn’t destroy their lives, I suppose.
Chatauqua County (wherever the Hell that probable shithole is) DA, Jason Schitt, seems a lot like former LA DA, George Gascon, and former San Francisco DA, Chesa Boudin, were. A total piece of shit who wants to help criminals rather than do his job and prosecute them.
On the upside, both the new LA DA, Nathan Hochman, and San Francisco DA, Brooke Jenkins are law and order types.
Just yesterday, Hochman charged Martin Richard Torres in the felony crime of throwing a heavy object onto the 101 Freeway with an intent to cause great bodily injury during an immigration “protest.” He was also charged with felony vandalism for spraying graffiti on whatever.
Hochman said: “Everyone has the right to express their views and engage in peaceful protest — that is fundamental to our democracy,” District Attorney Hochman said. “But when actions cross the line into criminal behavior that endangers lives, my Office will not hesitate to prosecute to the fullest extent of the law. Throwing objects onto a busy freeway is not an act of protest; it is a reckless and dangerous crime that could seriously injure or kill innocent people. If you use a protest as a cover for criminal activity, know this — you will be caught, you will be prosecuted, and you will be held accountable.”
Sounds good to me. Taco Bender Torres has multiple convictions for serious and violent felonies and faces seven years, four months in prison. Gascon is gone, ha haw!
After Butt Pounded Boudin was recalled on June 7, 2022, Jenkins was sworn in as interim DA on July 8th. “A week later, she fired 15 attorneys, as well as top Boudin advisors like his chief of staff, director of communications and policy advisor, and director of data, research and analytics. That was a good start. “Between her appointment and August 2022, Jenkins instituted policies such as allowing her attorneys to seek gang enhancements, allowing the conditional prosecution of minors as adults, and making drug dealers ineligible for community courts. Under her term, convictions rose 5% from 2022 to 2023. She supported Proposition E in 2022, which aimed to expand the use of police surveillance through the use of live cameras.
She sounds like a law and order DA too. The ACLU hates her so she’s obviously doing a good job. I suppose voters in LA and San Francisco had finally had enough of “woke” DAs. Let’s hope the “woke” Mayors are next.
The cult of Islam should not qualify for exemption from taxes.
The motive makes it a hate crime and terrorism.
But…..he’s just some guy without a motive who randomly stabbed an anonymous guy in the eyeball…….
Islam is Not the Religion of Peace and anyone who thinks it is has Rocks in their Head
Too bad they don’t have stones in their kidneys. I heard first hand that it’s agonizing to whizz them out.
Of course, there are ultrasound devices which can break them up inside the kidneys but Matard and the woketards don’t need to know that.
Given that the defendant was seen committing the crime, it is difficult to see what purpose would be served by screening out jurors who are not enthused about Islam. Even in this day and age, it would take some doing to assemble a jury who would unanimously acquit Matar. Unless there are plans to appeal whatever sentence is imposed, and Barrone is trying to provide grounds for a mistrial ruling in the future.
it wont matter who is murdered by muslims . it will continue as long as they infest the world .and the west will continue to give all muslims cover for the heinous death cult that it is . islam is the invention of satan the father of lies . muslims are satans devout mindless harbingers of absolute evil . it will persist right up to christs second coming , then and only then will terror come to an end . jews will continue to be the victims of the death cult of islam until god removes them shuffling them all off to hell . if there is no god and no hell there is no justice , more of the same will continue ad infinitum .
Unless an assailant is a raging lunatic (proven legally insane), at trial motives shouldn’t matter in terms guilt or innocence.
Defendant, Matar (coincidently, “matar”, Spanish, to kill) with complete malice aforethought, attempted to murder Salman Rushdie. Whether it was with “malice” or “love”, Matar certainly did it, and because of that he deserves conviction on the count of “assault with intent to commit murder.” I
If there is true justice, Matar’s failure at his goal shouldn’t mitigate his receiving the highest punishment for such violence.