'You are next': Twitter ignores sick death threat against JK Rowling from Islamic extremist
'Harry Potter' author JK Rowling has received a public death threat from an Iran-backing extremist after she condemned the recent attack on Salman Rushdie. Rowling has previously been targeted for her beliefs on gender. In a tweet, the author expressed her horror at the attack on Rushdie when one responder threatened to harm her.
"Horrifying news. Feeling very sick right now. Let him be ok," Rowling tweeted about Rushdie, to which a user named Meer Asif Aziz responded, “Don’t worry you are next." Aziz describes himself in his Twitter bio as a "Student, social activist, political activist and research activist".
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Rowling later posted an update from Twitter, which says after reviewing the available information, it found that there were no violations of Twitter's rules in connection with Aziz's tweet. ".@TwitterSupport These are your guidelines, right?" Rowling wrote. "Violence: You may not threaten violence against an individual or a group of people. We also prohibit the glorification of violence... "Terrorism/violent extremism: You may not threaten or promote terrorism...""
In a separate tweet, she confirmed that the police are involved. "To all sending supportive messages: thank you Police are involved (were already involved on other threats)."
To all sending supportive messages: thank you 💕
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) August 13, 2022
Police are involved (were already involved on other threats).
'The Satanic Verses' author Salman Rushdie has been taken off the ventilator and is now able to talk, a day after he was viciously stabbed by a man who rushed the stage at the Chautauqua Institution in Upstate New York on Friday morning, July 13, where Rushdie, 75, was starting a lecture on freedom of expression. Attorney Jason Schmidt said during the suspect's arraignment that Rushdie suffered three stab wounds to the right side of his neck, four in the stomach, a puncture wound to his right eye which he may lose, and two puncture wounds to his chest, and a laceration to his right thigh. He was airlifted to UPMC Hamot hospital in Erie, Pennsylvania.
Meanwhile, Hadi Matar, the suspect in Rushdie's stabbing, pleaded not guilty during an arraignment on Saturday afternoon, July 13. The 24-year-old was charged with attempted murder and assault. He entered the plea during a proceeding at the Chautauqua County Courthouse in Mayville. “This was a targeted, pre-planned unprovoked attack on Mr Rushdie,” said Chautauqua County District Attorney Jason Schmidt during the arraignment.
Schmidt said that Matar, a resident of Fairview, NJ, took a bus to Chautauqua and bought a pass to the educational institute two days before the event was scheduled to take place. He arrived at least a day before the event. “He didn’t bring a wallet. He had cash and pre-paid Visa cards with him. He had false identification with him,” Schmidt said, according to New York Post.
Schmidt told Judge Marilyn Gerace about the 1989 fatwa against Rushdie by the Iranian government under then leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. “That plays an important role for bail consideration because his resources don’t matter to me … the agenda that was carried out yesterday is something that’s adopted and sanctioned by larger groups and organizations well beyond jurisdictional borders of Chautauqua County,” Schmidt, who wanted Matar to be held without bail, said. “Even if this court sets a million dollar bail, we stand a risk that this bail could be met because of that,” the prosecutor added. Matar was sent to jail by Gerace without bail. After the proceeding, Matar’s lawyer Nathaniel Barone said that his client had no criminal record and had been “very cooperative” with him.