Family: Noor Salman, Pulse nightclub gunman's widow, to arrive in Bay Area
ORLANDO, Fla. (KGO) -- Noor Salman walked out of a federal courthouse in Florida after being acquitted of all charges related to the Pulse nightclub shooting. She had been charged with lying to the FBI and helping her husband in the 2016 attack. Her husband, Omar Mateen, died during a shootout with police after he had entered the club and killed 49 people and injured 58.
"I told you so and now I came to tell you I told you so, she is innocent. When I believe she was innocent, she is innocent. We stood by her and that's what she is," expressed Al Salman, one of her uncles.
VIDEO: Pulse nightclub shooter's widow found not guilty on all counts
Prosecutors has argued that Salman knew about her husband's guns and his obsession for Muslim extremist videos. They also told a jury that Salman was aware of his intentions to attack a location. But her attorneys insisted that their client is a simple woman with a low IQ who was abused by her husband and knew nothing about his plans.
"This is a case where the more we learned, the better Noor Salman looked," said one of her attorneys.
She had faced a sentence of up to life in prison. The jury deliberated for more than three days. When she heard the verdict, the now 31-year-old Salman, began sobbing, as did relatives seated behind her.
Her uncle told reporters that he was taking Salman back to her home in the East Bay city of Rodeo to be reunited with her son, who is now 5 years old. She will live with her mother in this quiet neighborhood. Her mother did not want to talk to reporters today and remained inside the home. A neighbor who knows the family well said they are good people.
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"I know Noor and she is not like that to be involved in anything bad," said the neighbor, who did not want to be identified.
Her uncle added, "Now we look forward to taking my niece and hire a therapist for her. I don't know how she will make up for the last two years."
Neighbors tell ABC7 News they hope Salman can start a new life with her son. They say the young boy is happy and healthy.
"He comes every day says hi to everybody," said Raginder Singh, neighbor.
The jury foreperson released a statement Friday night that reads: "As foreperson of the jury in the Noor Salman trial I felt it important that I present a juror's perspective of the verdicts. I am giving you my perspective, and not speaking for the entire jury. My initial inclination was not to communicate with the news media at all, however ,once I returned home a watched the news coverage of the reactions to the verdicts I felt compelled to at least clarify several misconceptions.
First, I want to express my deepest sympathy to family and friends of the victims of this senseless tragedy. I understand the desire to hold someone accountable for this heinous act of violence. Omar Mateen is dead. He cannot be punished. It is only logical the world would look next to Noor Salman.
These past few days have been very difficult. We listened carefully to opening arguments, testimonies from both prosecution and defense witnesses, viewed many exhibits and heard closing statements. We received many pages of documentation from the court outlining very specific instructions related to the charges and how we should apply the law. We used these detailed instructions, our courtroom notes, and all evidence presented by both sides in our deliberations.
Having said that, I want to make several things very clear. A verdict of not guilty did NOT mean that we thought Noor Salman was unaware of what Omar Mateen was planning to do. On the contrary we were convinced she did know. She may not have known what day, or what location, but she knew. However, we were not tasked with deciding if she was aware of a potential attack. The charges were aiding and abetting and obstruction of justice. I felt the both the prosecution and the defense did an excellent job presenting their case. I wish that the FBI had recorded their interviews with Ms. Salman as there were several significant inconsistencies with the written summaries of her statements. The bottom line is that, based on the letter of the law, and the detailed instructions provided by the court, we were presented with no option but to return a verdict of not guilty."
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