By Rebecca Colnes
Correspondent
The FBI arrested Noor Salman, the wife of the Pulse nightclub killer, on Jan. 16 for her alleged role in the attack.
According to CNN, Salman’s husband, Omar Mateen, killed 49 people and wounded dozens of others on June 12, 2016 at Pulse nightclub, a popular spot for Orlando LGBTQ+ community. Mateen was killed by police during the shooting.
Salman is charged with obstructing the investigation of the mass shooting and “aiding and abetting Mateen’s support of ISIS,” according to NBC.
According to CNN, Mateen swore allegiance to ISIS as he attacked the nightclub.
Investigators interviewed Salman after her husband’s attack, and she told them that she had no part in her husband’s plans, but the investigators believed she was lying, according to The New York Times.
Law enforcement stated Mateen and Salman were sending each other texts during the shooting, CBS News reported.
According to The New York Times, investigators found it peculiar how Salman and her child went with Mateen to Orlando when he scouted the club. She claims to have believed her husband was visiting a friend named Nemo in Orlando.
Nemo was, in fact, not living in Florida at the time, which Salman also claims not to have known, according to The New York Times.
The same news outlet reported that investigations discovered Salman knew her husband purchased ammunition days before the attack, however, this was not unusual because of his job as a security guard.
One official reported that Salman admitted she had known for awhile that Mateen was planning a terror attack, according to CNN.
The same source reported that months before the attack, Mateen added his wife to his life insurance policy and two bank accounts.
According to CNN, Salman and Mateen were married in 2011 and then moved to Fort Pierce, Fla. Relatives were distressed by the marriage because of Salman’s Palestinian heritage and Mateen’s Afghanistan heritage, according to The New York Times.
Salman’s husband beat her and verbally abused her, she told The New York Times.
After the nightclub attack, Salman moved to the San Francisco metro area. Last month, she filed a petition to change her son’s name, according to CBS News.
Salman was held in the Santa Rita Jail before appearing in a Federal Court on Jan. 17, where prosecutors will seek to have her face her charges in Orlando, according to NBC.
“I know she's innocent — 100 percent... she's innocent, simple person. She will not hurt a fly,” said Al Salman, a family member, NBC reported.
Salman pleaded not guilty on both charges during the hearing, according to New York Daily News.
