Salman Rushdie has been attacked as he was about to give a lecture in southwestern New York State.
It remains unclear if Rushdie was seriously injured.
An Associated Press reporter witnessed a man storm the stage at the Chautauqua Institution and begin punching or stabbing Rushdie as he was being introduced.
Rushdie was taken or fell to the floor, and the man was restrained.
Rushdie rose to prominence with his Booker Prize-winning 1981 novel “Midnight’s Children”, but his name became known around the world after “The Satanic Verses”.
Rushdie’s book “The Satanic Verses” has been banned in Iran since 1988, as many Muslims consider it to be blasphemous. A year later, Iran’s late leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued an edict calling for Rushdie’s death. Iran’s government has long since distanced itself from Khomeini’s decree.
The British-Indian author, who currently lives in the United States, had been previously put under police protection because of threats to his life.
