24-year-old who stabbed Salman Rushdie in New York has pleaded “not guilty”; the author remains in serious condition hospitalized on a ventilator

“A man jumped onto the stage from somewhere and began what appeared to be a beating to the chest, repeated blows to the chest and neck,” he told Reuters a member of the public. “People were screaming and crying and gasping.”

A doctor in the audience helped treat Rushdie while emergency services arrived. The Indian-born novelist who also has British and American citizenship and resides in NYC, was airlifted to a hospital after the attack on Friday around 11 a.m. 376 miles northwest of Manhattan.

“The news is not good”, wrote Andrew Wylie, his literary agent, in an email. “Salman will probably lose an eye; the nerves in his arm were severed; and his liver was stabbed and damaged.”

After hours of surgery, Rushdie was on a ventilator and unable to speak last night, as writers and politicians around the world called the attempt on his life an attack on freedom of expression.

Henry Reese, the moderator of the event, suffered a minor head injury. Police said they were working with federal investigators to determine a motive for the crime and did not immediately describe the weapon used.

White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan described the incident as “appalling.” “We are grateful to the good citizens and first responders for helping him so quickly,” he wrote last night on Twitter.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he was horrified that Rushdie was “stabbed while exercised a right that we must never stop defending.”

Rushdie was born into a muslim family from Kashmir in 1947 in Bombay, now Mumbai, and settled in the UK. Later spent years living in hiding after Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini of Iran called for his execution in 1989 for the publication of his novel “The Satanic Verses”, inspired by the life of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Some Muslims said the book contained blasphemous passages and was banned in many countries with large Muslim populations.

Iran’s government has long since distanced itself from Khomeini’s decree, but anti-Rushdie sentiment persisted. In 2012, a semi-official Iranian religious foundation offered a $3.3 million reward for the author’s death.

Rushdie dismissed that new threat at the time, saying there was “no evidence” that anyone was interested in the bounty. So far it is not clear if there is a connection between yesterday’s attack and those threats to his life.