OAN Staff Blake Wolf
6:18 PM – Wednesday, July 24, 2024
New Jersey resident Hadi Matar faces new federal terrorism charges alleging that he attempted to provide support to the terrorist group, Hezbollah.
The indictments introduced on Wednesday, included charges of committing terrorism, transcending national boundaries, as well as providing materials to support terrorists.
Although the indictment claims that Matar provided material support to Hezbollah knowing they are a terrorist organization, the document did not provide specifics as to how Matar was connected to the group.
According to The Associated Press, Matar holds dual Lebanese citizenship and visited his father in Lebanon in 2018, which is when his mother noticed a change in his behavior.
Matar was already facing attempted murder charges based on the 2022 stabbing and assault of Salman Rushdie. Rushdie was stabbed over a dozen times at the Chautauqua Institution in western New York.
The recent federal charges come weeks after Matar rejected a plea deal from prosecutors which would have shortened his sentence had he accepted.
Rushdie had received numerous death threats stemming back from his 1988 publication of the book The Satanic Verses. The violent backlash was proposed by the then leader of Iran at the time of the publication, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. Khomeini encouraged Muslims to kill Rushdie.
Matar’s lawyer, Nathaniel Baron, explained that his client plans to fight against all of the charges brought against him.
“We plan on zealously and feverishly defending him on these matters,” said Baron. “He plans on proceeding with a vigorous defense and maintains his innocence.”
Matar has been held without bail since the attack.
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