Widow Of Pulse Nightclub Shooter Found Not Guilty

Noor Salman (L) with Pulse gunman Omar Mateen (R)

In what will likely be the only court proceeding in relation to the deadly Pulse Nightclub shooting in June of 2016, Noor Salman, widow of the shooter Omar Mateen, was found not guilty of the two charges brought against her.

From NBC News:

Salman, 31, was accused of helping her husband plan his terror assault on the Orlando, Florida, nightclub and of falsely denying her role afterward.

The government equated Mateen's actions with supporting terrorism, because he repeatedly pledged allegiance to ISIS before and during the attack that left 49 people dead and 53 injured. For that reason, Salman was charged with aiding him in providing material support to a terror group.

She was also charged with obstruction of justice, accused of misleading police and FBI agents by making contradictory statements about whether she knew what he was planning.

But after a two-week trial, a federal court jury acquitted her on both counts.

BREAKING: Jury finds Pulse nightclub attacker's widow, Noor Salman, not guilty on all counts.

She was accused of aiding her husband and obstructing the investigation into the attack. pic.twitter.com/Sm8RE0HeTV

— MSNBC (@MSNBC) March 30, 2018

Pulse Shooter's Wife: I Knew He Was Going To Attack Nightclub

Just hours after the deadly shooting massacre at the Pulse nightclub on June 12, 2016, Omar Mateen’s wife, Noor Salman was questioned by the FBI. According to reports, Salman hand-wrote a 12-page statement providing specific details of the attack.

Salman's statement was quietly released in a batch of records from the case at the end of December 2017.

Via USA Today:

The 12-page statement, quietly released by federal authorities at the end of December in a batch of records in the case, was taken hours after the June 12, 2016 shooting. The attack left 49 dead and dozens of others injured.

Noor Salman was questioned for hours, without a lawyer, after authorities learned her husband was the gunman behind the attack.

She was arrested last year on federal charges of providing material support to a terrorist and tampering with evidence but has pleaded not guilty, claiming she was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. She said Mateen abused her and claims she did not know of his plot.

But her defense conflicts with the signed statement she gave to the FBI, which details her knowledge of Mateen's planning and his path to carry out an attack on behalf of the Islamic State.

She told agents multiple times she knew his plans and that he was going to attack the Orlando club when he left their home.

On June 12, 2016, Salman's husband killed 49 people at Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, Florida. He was eventually shot and killed by police after a three-hour standoff.

Salman faces charges of aiding a foreign terrorist organization and obstruction of justice.

In her written statement, Salman told investigators:

• Mateen bought a rifle just days before the attack. When she saw it in his car trunk he told her not to say "anything to anybody."

• Driving by heavily populated areas like Disney World and Pulse Nightclub, he told her, "How upset are people going to be when it gets attacked?"

• Two days before the massacre Salman noticed Mateen looking at the Pulse Nightclub's website. When she asked what he was doing, he replied, "This is my target."

• The night before the shooting Mateen was "pumped up" wearing a handgun in a holster and a backpack full of ammunition. "I knew when he left the house he was going to Orlando to attack the Pulse nightclub," she wrote.

Wife Of Pulse Nightclub Shooter Arrested In Connection With Deadly Orlando Massacre

The wife of the Pulse nightclub shooter, Omar Mateen, has been arrested in connection with the June 2016 massacre in Orlando.

According to the New York Times, Noor Salman was taken into custody by FBI at her home outside San Francisco.

Authorities have been considering charges against Salman since the deadly shootout on June 12th that left 49 dead and 53 wounded. She has reportedly been charged with obstruction of justice.

Salman could appear in federal court in San Francisco as soon as Tuesday

The shooting was the deadliest act against the LGBT community in US history, and the deadliest terror attack in the US since September 11, 2001.