From Judge Richard Arcara (W.D.N.Y.) yesterday in U.S. v. Matar:
Following a jury trial, Defendant Hadi Matar was convicted of each charge contained in a three-count indictment. Count 1 charged Matar with attempting to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization ("FTO")—that is, Hizballah, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2339B(a)(1). Count 2 charged Matar with committing an act of terrorism transcending national boundaries, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2332b(a)(1)(A). Count 3 charged Matar with providing material support to terrorists, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2339A. The charges against Matar stemmed from his stabbing of the author Salman Rushdie … at the Chautauqua Institution on August 12, 2022 ….
Matar moved for a judgment of acquittal, but the court said no. Here's an excerpt from the discussion of why Matar was acting sufficiently under the direction of a foreign terrorist organization (which is required under the relevant federal statute) rather than just independently—if he had been acting independently, that would have still been attempted murder punishable under state law, but likely not a violation of these statutes:
