Noor Salman, widow of Omar Mateen, appears in court over accusations of engaging in ‘misleading conduct’ toward local officers and FBI agents

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

Noor Salman, the widow of the gunman who killed 49 people at Pulse nightclub in Orlando, has been charged with aiding and abetting the attack and obstruction of justice.

Salman, wife of Omar Mateen, who was killed in a shootout with police during the 12 June 2016 attack at the popular LGBT night club in Florida, was arrested in northern California on Monday and appeared in court in Oakland on Tuesday morning.

Salman, who has claimed she had no knowledge of her husband’s plans, is accused of engaging in “misleading conduct” toward local officers and FBI agents, according to a federal indictment unsealed on Tuesday.

The grand jury charges, filed in US district court in Florida, said she knowingly aided and abetted Mateen in his provision of “material support or resources” to Isis, “knowing that the organization was designated as a terrorist organization”.

Linda Moreno, Salman’s lawyer, disputed the charges in a statement on Monday, saying she “had no foreknowledge nor could she predict what Omar Mateen intended to do that tragic night”.

Moreno added, “Noor has told her story of abuse at his hands. We believe it is misguided and wrong to prosecute her and that it dishonors the memories of the victims to punish an innocent person.”

Salman said little during her appearance in Oakland, and outside of the courtroom, her uncle told reporters, “She’s a very soft, sweet girl” who cared deeply about her son, adding: “I know she’s innocent.”

The FBI questioned Salman after the shooting, but did not file any charges. It’s unclear what new information officials have gathered seven months later.

Salman and Mateen, who were both born in the US, met on a dating website in 2011, and Salman has said her husband was violent toward her. After the shooting, she told a reporter that Mateen had pulled her hair, choked her and threatened to kill her.

Immediately after the tragedy, considered the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history, there were questions about whether Salman knew anything of Mateen’s plans to target Pulse, a club her husband had allegedly visited before.

Mateen’s father said his son had strong anti-gay feelings, recounting an incident in which he became angry when he saw two men kissing in Miami while out with his wife and son.

Salman is the child of Palestinian immigrants and was born in San Pablo, a city in the Bay Area just north of Oakland.

In 911 calls recorded during the attack, Mateen, a security guard in Fort Pierce, said he was an “Islamic soldier”, but the CIA said it did not find any direct link between the gunman and the terror organization.

Mateen’s previous wife, Sitora Yusifiy, divorced him after four months and told reporters after the shooting that he beat her and held her hostage. She also said he had mental health issues and was “obviously disturbed, deeply, and traumatized”.

The shooting, which killed many queer people of color and left 53 people injured, reignited debates about firearms and national security in America, though subsequent efforts to pass stricter gun laws were unsuccessful.