Feds: Orlando killer’s widow admitted to knowing of attack

OAKLAND, Calif. — Federal prosecutors described the wife of the Orlando, Fla., nightclub killer as “calculating and callous,” who knew her husband planned a terror attack on the nightclub last summer and did nothing to stop it.

Wednesday’s hearing, a proceeding to determine whether Noor Salman could be released on bond, represented the first time that the government substantially described the allegations that last month led a grand jury in Orlando to return an indictment.

The Rodeo, Calif., woman went on three casing trips and told FBI investigators that she saw her husband watching violent jihadi videos in front of their young son, and even heard him say, “This is the day,” before he left. But she did nothing, prosecutors said at a detention hearing to keep Ms. Salman, 30, behind bars.

“He walks out with a gun and a backpack full of ammo; there can’t be a doubt in her mind that he’s going to carry out an attack,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Sara Sweeney said.

Omar Mateen, 29, who declared his allegiance to the Islamic State group, was killed by SWAT officers after he killed 49 people and wounded more than 50 others at the Pulse nightclub on June 12, 2016. It was the deadliest attack involving a single gunman and the deadliest targeting the LGTB community in the U.S. Ms. Salman is facing life in prison on charges that she aided in a terrorist attack and obstruction of justice.

Defense attorneys said Wednesday that Ms. Salman is getting scapegoated by the government for horrific crimes committed by her husband alone. They described her as a former special-education student with learning disabilities who was physically and mentally abused by Mateen and lived an isolated life focused on their young son.

“What we heard today was the case against Omar Mateen. This was not a case against Noor Salman,” defense attorney Linda Moreno said. “The government laid out a theoretical, extremely thin prosecution case against Noor that was based on speculation, based on statements they claim she made during an 18-hour interrogation that was conducted without counsel.”