The man accused of stabbing author Salman Rushdie is a 24-year-old born to Lebanese parents who reportedly became radicalized and withdrawn after a month-long trip to the Middle East in 2018.
Hadi Matar was born in California but his parents split in 2004, with his father returning to Lebanon and his mother getting a fresh start in New Jersey, according to his mother, Silvana Fardos, who spoke to The Daily Mail.
She said she is shocked by the stabbing and that her son turned into a different person after his trip to Lebanon to see his father.