JK Rowling told 'you're next' after Salman Rushdie stabbing

JK Rowling is working with the police after being told she was 'next' following the stabbing of author Salman Rushdie.

The Harry Potter author took to social media to express her concern for Rushdie after he was attacked while on stage in New York last night (12 August), leaving him with damage to one eye, the nerves in his arm and his liver.

The 75-year-old was taken by helicopter to a hospital in Erie, Pennsylvania, where he was placed on a ventilator. The suspect was held down by audience members before being arrested by police, and has been identified as 24-year-old Hadi Matar, from Fairview, New Jersey.

Rowling responded to the news of the attack after it had been shared on Twitter, writing that she felt 'very sick' at the situation and adding: "Let him be ok."

Her post received thousands of likes from supportive fans, but one Twitter user responded with an apparent threat to the 57-year-old author, writing: "Don't worry you are next."

Rowling took screenshots of the exchange and shared them in a post in which she also included the Twitter user's profile picture. She tagged the official Twitter Support account and wrote: "Any chance of some support?"

The author soon added a follow-up post thanking those who were 'sending supportive messages', and explained the police were involved with the Twitter threat after having already been working on 'other threats' received by Rowling.

Rushdie has long been the subject of threats after his 1988 book, The Satanic Versus, was deemed to be blasphemous by some Muslims. The book was banned in some countries after its release and even forced the author to go into hiding for nearly 10 years, during which time he was under police protection.

Rowling is one of a number of people who have expressed their concern for Rushdie and condemned the attack after he was stabbed, with Boris Johnson describing himself as 'appalled' at the situation.

In a tweet shared last night, Johnson wrote: "Appalled that Sir Salman Rushdie has been stabbed while exercising a right we should never cease to defend. Right now my thoughts are with his loved ones. We are all hoping he is okay."

Sathnam Sanghera, journalist and author of Empireland, made reference to some of Rushdie's other books as he wrote: "Passage from Midnight’s Children in my last ever exam. Poster of The Moor’s Last Sigh had place on my (pretentious) student bedroom wall. Quote from Satanic Verses opens Empireland. Lots of British Asian writers wouldn’t be writers without him. Pray he’s well.”

Police confirmed today (13 August), that Matar has been charged with attempted murder and assault.

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