Gunman’s widow gave ‘a green light’ for Pulse attack, prosecutor says

ORLANDO, Fla. — When Omar Mateen opened fire inside Pulse nightclub — killing 49 people and wounding dozens more in support of the Islamic State group, also known as ISIS — he did so with the help of his wife, Noor Salman, prosecutors in Salman’s trial argued Wednesday morning.

“This trial is about what the defendant knew,” Assistant U.S. Attorney James Mandolfo told Salman’s jury, during opening statements on the trial’s ninth day. He said prosecutors would prove Salman and Mateen spent “thousands of dollars to prepare for the attack,” and she knowingly hid her husband’s intentions from his family and the police.

“The defendant’s cold actions gave Omar Mateen a green light to commit these crimes on behalf of ISIS,” he said.

Testimony is set to begin Wednesday in Salman’s trial, after attorneys for the government and defense wrap up their opening statements. Salman is accused of aiding her husband in the planning of the June 12, 2016, attack at Pulse, a gay nightclub, and also of lying to federal investigators in the hours afterward.

“We don’t have to prove that she took the same steps as Mateen. We don’t have to prove that she’s an extremist,” Mandolfo said, adding that prosecutors would prove that Salman knowingly delayed the investigation into the nightclub shooting. “That is referred to as obstruction of justice.”

Salman was in a unique position to prevent the killing, Mandolfo said.

“At 2:02 a.m., Omar Mateen calmly walked inside the Pulse nightclub... methodically killing 49 people and injuring 53 others,” he said. “No one knew the horrific events that were going to unfold ... No one knew. Except two people,” Mateen and Salman, he said.

Members of Salman’s family were also seen entering the courthouse today.

If convicted, she faces up to life in prison.

Salman is the only person charged in the attack. Mateen was killed in a shootout with police.

Mateen’s conversations with a hostage negotiator, 911 audio from victims inside the nightclub during the attack and photos and videos of the carnage at Pulse are expected to be introduced as evidence in the trial. During the trial’s first eight days, potential jurors were warned of the graphic materials they would likely see if chosen to decide the case.

Salman is not required to testify. She may if she chooses to, but the 12person jury is not allowed to consider her refusal to testify as evidence of guilt.

Salman has pleaded not guilty and her lawyers and family have denied she had anything to do with Mateen’s plot.

FBI agents said Salman confessed to having prior knowledge and being with Mateen when he scoped out Pulse and bought ammunition. Defense lawyers Charles Swift and Linda Moreno plan to call an expert on false confessions to testify that Salman’s statements were not reliable. An expert on domestic violence is also expected to testify in support of the defense’s theory that Mateen was so abusive that Salman was afraid to question his actions leading up to the attack, according to court filings.

However, in court Wednesday, Mandolfo said Salman knew Mateen had been looking at jihadist material that was so extreme, she would have to pull her 3-year-old son away from the room.

Mandolfo said Salman scoped out Disney Springs with her husband before the shooting. “He said, ‘What would make people more upset — an attack at a club or an attack at Disney?’” the prosecutor claimed.

Prosecutors have said they do not intend to argue Mateen’s attack was targeting the gay community, but was instead a terrorist attack in the name of the Islamic State.