ORLANDO, Fla. – The hands of the widow of the gunman who killed 49 people at a gay Orlando nightclub were visibly shaking in the moments before a jury acquitted her of all charges.
Noor Salman's family gasped Friday when a court official said aloud that she had been found not guilty of lying to the FBI and helping her husband plan the attack. She had faced life in prison if convicted.
After the verdicts were read, Salman began sobbing with joy and her family held each other. On the other side of the courtroom, the families of the victims of the Pulse shooting sat stone-faced and silent.
Outside the courthouse, Salman's family said they were eager for her to be able to see her young son again. She has been in jail for the past two years awaiting trial.
Salman was released from the Orange County Jail just before 1 p.m. Friday.
"It's Good Friday for everybody. I want to thank the judge," said Al Salman, Noor's uncle. "We are looking forward to taking my niece. You are going to go back to your son, and that's all she wants. That's the best moment for me."
Salman's husband was Omar Mateen, who shot and killed 49 people in the Pulse nightclub in June 2016. Police killed him after the attack.
Prosecutors said Salman knew about Mateen's plans and did nothing to stop them. Her lawyers said she had no knowledge and was mentally and physically abused by him. They said she wasn't an Islamic extremist.
Because it was a federal trial, cameras and phones were not allowed in the courtroom.
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