Police in Scotland on Sunday said they were investigating reports of an online threat against author JK Rowling after she tweeted in support of Salman Rushdie.
The chilling threat against the “Harry Potter” creator came after she tweeted “feeling very sick right now. May she be well” on Friday, referring to Rushdie being stabbed while giving a lecture in upstate New York .
“Don’t worry you’re next,” one Twitter user responded to Rowling’s post.
A Police Scotland spokesman said: “We have received a report of an online threat and officers are investigating.”
Rowling on Saturday also confirmed that the police were involved after her shared screenshots of a threatening tweet and another by the same user praising the man who allegedly attacked Rushdie.
The account, using the name Meer Asif Aziz, called stabbing suspect Hadi Matar a “Shiite revolutionary fighter”. [who] followed the fatwana of the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini,” referring to an order from the late Iranian leader targeting the author of The Satanic Verses.
Rowling, 57, also shared a screenshot showing she had reported the user to Twitter but was told no action would be taken because “there were no violations of Twitter’s rules in the content you reported.”
“Those are your instructions, aren’t they? ‘Violence: You may not threaten violence against an individual or a group of people. We also stop glorifying violence…” she wrote in a rebuke of the social media site.
The account appeared to be suspended since Sunday afternoon.
The film company behind the Harry Potter films, Warner Bros Discovery, “strongly condemned” the threats against Rowling.
“We stand with him and all authors, storytellers and creators who boldly express their creativity and opinions,” the company said in a company statement, according to the Guardian.
“WBD believes in freedom of expression, peaceful discourse and supporting those who offer their views in the public arena.”
He added: “Our thoughts are with Sir Salman Rushdie and his family after the senseless act of violence in New York. The company strongly condemns any form of threats, violence or intimidation where opinions, beliefs and opinions can be changed.”
Rushdie, 74, was off a ventilator and recovering after Friday’s attack at the Chautauqua Institute that damaged his liver and severed nerves in his arms.
Suspect Matar, 24, of Fairview, New Jersey, pleaded not guilty to attempted murder and assault charges Saturday in what a prosecutor called “a targeted, unprovoked, premeditated attack.”
In 1989, Iran’s Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a fatwa ordering Muslims to kill Rushdie after claiming that his novel The Satanic Verses mocked religion.
By postal wire
