It was the first time that the author had come face-to-face with the suspect since the 2022 stabbing, which left him blind in one eye.

Matar was apprehended on Aug. 12, 2022, after authorities say he rushed the stage of the Chautauqua Institution's amphitheater and repeatedly stabbed Rushdie, 77, and injured Henry Reese, 75, who was on stage with the author.

Salman Rushdie appeared in court on Tuesday to testify in the trial of the man who is accused of trying to murder him on stage at a talk in western New York in 2022. “It occurred to me that I was dying.