US jury acquits wife of Pulse nightclub terrorist

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - The widow of the suspect accused of killing 49 people in the name of Daesh at a night club in Florida was acquitted Friday on charges of obstruction of justice and providing material support to a terrorist group.

Federal jurors in Orlando, Florida reached a not guilty verdict in the government’s case against Noor Salman, 31, who faced life in prison, if convicted.

Prosecutors alleged Salman aided and abetted her husband, Omar Mateen, in carrying out the gruesome terrorist attack in 2016 at the Pulse Nightclub, and then lied to FBI investigators in a bid to upend the investigation.

Mateen was killed after a three-hour standoff with police. Salman was arrested in January 2017, seven months after the tragedy.

Jurors had been deliberating since Wednesday after prosecutors and Salman's defense team gave hours of closing arguments, capping three weeks of testimony and evidence. Salman did not take the stand during the trial.

She wept as the verdict was announced, according to reports.

Prosecutors contended Salman helped Mateen scout locations for the attack, including Disney World, before he settled on the gay night club. But during the trial it was revealed Mateen chose the Pulse at random after deciding the Disney site had been too heavily guarded.

The government also said Salman was aware her husband was buying massive amounts of ammunition to carry out the attack that also injured more than 50 other victims.

"I wish I had done the right thing but my fear held me back. I wish I had been more truthful,” Salman said in a signed statement to the FBI. She also admitted to knowing her husband had been watching gruesome Daesh videos, knew Mateen was buying weapons and had discussed possible locations for carrying out the attack with her.

But her defense team argued the statements should be thrown out because they made after nearly a dozen hours of questioning without a lawyer present. There was no video or audio recording of the interrogation.

"She was a suspect, and they wanted to get a confession -- except that she was still denying that she knew anything,” defense lawyer Charles Swift said during closing arguments, according to the New York Times.

Her lawyers cast Salman as a dim, naive woman who was deceived and abused by Mateen who also cheated on her.

“Why would Omar Mateen confide in Noor, a woman he clearly had no respect for?” asked Linda Moreno, another defense lawyer, the Times reported.