Salman Rushdie attacker came back changed after Lebanon trip, locked himself in basement, says mother

The attacker accused of British writer Salman Rushdie was changed by a journey to Lebanon in 2018, when he became more religious and less friendly, his mother said. Silvana Fardos was born in Lebanon, from Fairview, New Jersey, describing his 24 -year -old son Hadi Matar as “a depressed introvert” is increasingly fixated with Islam after a visit to see his isolated father.

“One time he argued with me asking why I encouraged him to get an education rather than focusing on religion,” he told the British Daily Mail newspaper website. “He was angry because I did not introduce it to Islam since a young age,” he said in an interview published online Sunday night.

Matar was arrested at the location of the attack on Rushdie, 75, at a literary event at Upstate New York on Friday. He claimed to be innocent the next day to try murder and attack with weapons and arrested unsecured. The prosecutor has described the planned and planned attack on Rushdie, who was stabbed around 10 times.

The police did not provide information about the background of the suspect or possible motives. Fardos said he “Shell was surprised” to receive a call from one of his 14 -year -old daughters who told him that the FBI was in a family home and his son was allegedly responsible. “I just don’t believe he is able to do something like this. He is very quiet, everyone loves him,” he said.

Fardos said the federal agent had released matar computers, playstations, books and other items including knives and sharpening. His son “changed a lot” after his trip to Lebanon, he said. “I hope that he will be motivated again, to finish school, to get his degree and work, but instead he locked himself in the basement,” he said.

“I can’t tell you a lot about his life after that because he has been isolating me since 2018,” and also a little telling his family members for months.

“He sleeps during the day and wakes up and eats at night,” he said. Fardos, an assistant teaching and translator, said he was born as a Muslim, but not religious and did not care about politics – and had never even heard of Rushdie.

“I don’t know that my child has read his book,” he said. Matar was born in the US and grew up in California. His parents divorced in 2004, his father Hassan Matar returned to Lebanon, while Fardos moved to New Cersey, according to Mail.