Salman Rushdie is on a ventilator, cannot speak, will likely lose an eye, his arm nerves are severed and his liver damaged: Cops raid New Jersey home of suspect, 24, 'with sympathies toward Iranian government' who stabbed author up to 15 times

• Salman Rushdie, 75, was stabbed up to 15 times, including in the neck and in the abdomen
• Rushdie's agent Andrew Wylie provided an update on his condition shortly before 7 p.m. on Friday
• Wylie said 'the news is not good' and that, 'Salman will likely lose one eye; the nerves in his arm were severed; and his liver was stabbed and damaged'
• Rushdie was attacked by Hadi Matar, 24, who rushed the stage before 'punching and stabbing' the author multiple times in front of horrified witnesses at a literary fair in Chautauqua, New York, near Buffalo
• Rushdie wrote the Satanic Verses, which sparked in a culture war in 1988 in Britain, leading to deadly riots
• The novelist was issued a fatwa by Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini in February 1989 and went into hiding for years

Salman Rushdie  is on a ventilator, cannot speak, and will likely lose an eye, after being stabbed up to 15 times on Friday by a suspect police have identified as a man from New Jersey 'with sympathies toward the Iranian government.'

Authorities descended on the Fairview, New Jersey home of 24-year-old Hadi Matar hours after he allegedly attacked Rushdie onstage at a literary event in upstate New York.

The bloodied Rushdie, 75, who has been the subject of death threats from the Iranian regime since 1989, was airlifted to the hospital and his condition was updated by his agent Andrew Wylie shortly before 7 p.m.  

'The news is not good,' Wylie said in a statement. 'Salman will likely lose one eye; the nerves in his arm were severed; and his liver was stabbed and damaged.' 

Rushdie was attacked and stabbed multiple times, including in the neck and abdomen, as he was being introduced for the CHQ 2022 event in Chautauqua, near Buffalo, on Friday morning. 

Matar, who police say gained access to the grounds with a pass, managed to walk off the stage before being restrained, as people rushed to assist Rushdie. 

Law enforcement sources told The New York Post that an initial investigation suggests Matar is sympathetic to the Iranian regime and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard, although he was born around nine years after the fatwa against Rushdie was first issued. 

Event moderator Henry Reese, 73, a co-founder of an organization that offers residencies to writers facing persecution, was also attacked. He and Rushdie were due to discuss the United States as a refuge for writers and other artists in exile. Reese was released from a hospital on Friday afternoon and in an emailed statement to the New York Times, he called Rushdie one of the great defenders of freedom of speech and freedom of creative expression,' then added: 'The fact that this attack could occur in the United States is indicative of the threats to writers from many governments and  many  individuals and organizations