Court records detail charges faced by wife of Pulse shooter
ORLANDO, Fla. — Records detailing the charges the wife of the Pulse nightclub shooter is facing were unsealed Tuesday morning in federal court.
Noor Salman was arrested early Monday morning at her home outside San Francisco and is expected to appear before a federal judge for the first time later Tuesday.
She is the only person facing charges related to the June 12 shooting in Orlando that killed 49 people and wounded at least 68 others. Her husband, Omar Mateen, was killed in a shootout with police after holding terrified and injured clubgoers hostage for nearly three hours.
Federal agents say Salman knowingly helped her husband in his support of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, a designated foreign terrorist organization, the court records revealed.
She also is accused of misleading the F.B.I. and investigators with the Fort Pierce Police Department, where she and Mateen lived, according to the records. By misleading investigators, agents said she hindered communication and prevented them from communicating about the offense.
A Middle District of Orlando grand jury indicted her on charges of aiding and abetting the attempted provision and provision of material support to a foreign terrorist organization, and obstruction of justice.
After her court appearance this morning, Salman is expected to return to Central Florida to face the charges.
Authorities had been investigating Salman since the attack, trying to determine what — if anything — she knew about her husband’s plans.
She initially told investigators she once visited Pulse with her husband and went with him to purchase ammunition. She later changed her story, saying she warned Mateen the day of the shooting not to carry it out, sources have said.
During a phone call with a police dispatcher during the attack, Mateen pledged allegiance to the Islamic State and officials said he appeared to have been self-radicalized.
He didn’t appear to have any foreign ties to the terrorists, officials said, but watched online jihadist sermons and downloaded terrorist videos to his laptop.