'A targeted, unprovoked, pre-planned attack' on Salman Rushdie
The suspect, 24-year-old Hadi Matar, was born in the US and officials are investigating possible sympathies for Shia extremism and Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
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Sir Salman Rushdie's suspected attacker has denied attempted murder and assault in what a prosecutor called a "pre-planned" crime.
Hadi Matar, 24, was identified by New York police after the attack on Friday.
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A judge ordered him to be held without bail after district attorney Jason Schmidt said Matar took steps to purposely put himself in a position to harm Sir Salman.
"This was a targeted, unprovoked, pre-planned attack on Mr Rushdie," Mr Schmidt said.
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Matar was born in the United States to Lebanese parents who emigrated from Yaroun, a border village in southern Lebanon, Mayor Ali Tehfe told the AP news agency.
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According to NBC, he [Hadi Matar] was born in California, but had recently moved to New Jersey.
Sources said that Matar also had a fake New Jersey driver's licence on him.
Rosaria Calabrese, manager of the State of Fitness Boxing Club in North Bergen, New Jersey, told The Associated Press that Matar had joined in April - but had emailed her several days ago to say he wanted to cancel his membership because "he wouldn't be coming back for a while".
Gym owner Desmond Boyle said he saw "nothing violent" about Matar.
Mr Boyle described him as polite and quiet, yet someone who always looked "tremendously sad" and resisted attempts by others to welcome him.
"He had this look every time he came in. It looked like it was the worst day of his life," Mr Boyle said.
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'Extremist sympathies' probed
The authorities are unsure if Matar had a criminal record, New York State Police Major Eugene J Staniszewski said.
A rucksack believed to have been left by the suspect was made safe by sheriff's bomb squad members, and state troopers have requested a search warrant to look inside, Maj Staniszewski said.
According to NBC News, which cited a law enforcement official with direct knowledge of the investigation, a preliminary review of Matar' social media shows he had sympathies for Shia extremism and Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
The IRGC has been labelled a terrorist organisation by the US.
Authorities are looking into those alleged sympathies. However, there are no definitive links between Matar and the IRGC, the law enforcement source told NBC.
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Mobile phone checked
A mobile phone messaging app belonging to Matar includes images of Qassem Soleimani, the commander of the IRGC killed in a US drone strike in January 2020.
The phone also reportedly includes an image of an Iraqi extremist sympathetic to the Iranian regime.
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https://news.sky.com/story/salman-rushd ... r-12671962