A jury found Noor Salman, the widow of Pulse nightclub shooter Omar Mateen, not guilty of providing support to a terrorist organization and obstructing justice Friday morning.
She was facing life in prison if convicted of the crimes.
Salman was arrested in January 2017, six months after her husband murdered 49 individuals and injured dozens more at the Orlando nightclub. Mateen’s attack was the deadliest terror attack carried out on United States soil since 9/11.
After being taken into custody, Salman reportedly said in a signed statement that she was aware of Mateen’s plans prior to the attack.
“I knew on Saturday, when Omar left the house about 5 p.m. that this was the time that he was going to do something bad,” she told the FBI. “I knew this because of the way he left and took the gun and backpack with ammunition.”
“I knew later, when I could not get ahold of him that my fears had come true and he did what he said he was going to do. I was in denial and I could not believe that the father of my child was going to hurt other people.”
It was revealed during Salman’s trial that Mateen’s father, Seddique Mateen, served as an undercover informant for the FBI for 10 years.
Salman’s lawyers claim that the elder Mateen’s relationship with the FBI stopped the bureau from prosecuting Omar in 2013, when he was being previously investigated.
Her team further stated that she is being used as a scapegoat to avoid further investigation into the FBI’s relationship with the Mateen family.
Via DailyCaller
