Widow’s acquittal a rare defeat in fight against terrorism
The widow of the gunman who slaughtered 49 people at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida has been acquitted of helping to plot the attack and lying to the FBI afterwards – a rare and stinging defeat for the US government in a terrorism case.
Noor Salman, 31, sobbed yesterday upon hearing the jury’s verdict of not guilty of obstruction and providing material support to a terrorist organisation, charges that could have brought a life sentence in prison. Her family gasped each time the words ‘‘not guilty’’ were pronounced.
On the other side of the Orlando courtroom, the families of the victims of the June 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting sat stone-faced and silent.
Within hours, Salman was released from jail after 14 months, and got into a waiting car without answering questions.
‘‘Noor is so grateful. Her belief in the process was shown. She wants to get back to her son,’’ her lawyer Linda Moreno said.
Family spokeswoman Susan Clary said Salman’s family ‘‘always thought that Noor was the first victim’’ of her husband, Omar Mateen.
The verdict has reverberated through Orlando and legal circles beyond.
‘‘The government rarely, rarely loses these kinds of cases. It’s got every single factor on its side,’’ said David Oscar Markus, a Miami lawyer who routinely tries federal cases. ‘‘It’s a pretty impressive win for the defence and a devastating loss for the government.’’
Mateen, the American-born son of Afghan immigrants, was killed by police after opening fire in the name of Islamic State.
Relying heavily on an alleged confession from Salman, federal prosecutors charged that Salman and Mateen had scouted potential targets together – including Disney World – and that she gave him the ‘‘green light to commit terrorism’’.
The defence portrayed her as an easily manipulated woman with a low IQ, and argued that she signed a false confession because she was tired after a long interrogation and feared losing her young son.
In a blow to the government’s case, the FBI itself found that receipts and cellphone signals showed the couple were nowhere near the nightclub on the day Salman had said they were.
Also, prosecutors introduced no online posts, texts or other evidence that Salman supported Isis, and were hard-pressed to counter the defence’s portrayal of her as a simple, sweet mother who loves her 5-year-old son, romance novels and the cartoon character Hello Kitty.
After the verdict, prosecutors said they were disappointed and took no questions.
‘‘Noor Salman should never have been on trial,’’ said Ahmed Bedier, a civil rights advocate and the president of United Voices of America. ‘‘Let this verdict serve as a message to law enforcement and prosecutors who railroad and persecute innocent people on little evidence.’’
Some veteran attorneys said the government made a mistake in not recording Salman’s alleged confession. The jury was given only a written statement.
Christine Leinonen, a lawyer and former state trooper whose only son was killed in the nightclub massacre, told The Orlando Sentinel she was disappointed but not shocked by the verdict. She said Salman’s alleged confession was ‘‘clearly coerced’’, and added: ‘‘Cops screw up their own cases.’’
Prosecutors had also accused Salman of falsely claiming that her husband did not use the internet in their home; that he had deactivated his Facebook account years earlier; that he had only one gun, when he actually had three; and that he was not radicalised.
But the defence said that Salman, who was born in California to Palestinian parents, was abused and cheated on by her husband, and that he concealed much of his life from her.
Her lawyers argued that there was no way she knew her husband would attack the nightclub, because even he didn’t know it until moments before he began the massacre.
According to prosecutors, Mateen intended to attack Disney World’s shopping and entertainment complex by hiding a gun in a stroller but became spooked by police and chose a new target.