#SalmanRushdie just attacked onstage at @chq@NBCNews@ABC@cnnbrkpic.twitter.com/I1XT6AmkhKHundreds of people in the audience gasped at the sight of the attack and were then evacuated.
Rushdie was at the event to discuss «the United States as asylum for writers and other artists in exile and as a home for freedom of creative expression,» according to the Chautauqua Institution.Rushdie's book, 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 a fatwa, or edict, calling for Rushdie's death.Iran's government has long since distanced itself from Khomeini's 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. Rushdie dismissed that threat at the time, saying there was «no evidence» of people being interested in the reward.
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