ORLANDO, Fla. – Noor Salman, the widow of the Pulse nightclub gunman, is now a free woman after spending more than a year in federal custody.
Salman was arrested in California on Jan. 16, 2017, on charges of aiding and abetting in her husband Omar Mateen's attack on the Orlando club on June 12, 2016, and obstruction of justice for allegedly lying to FBI agents after the fact as they investigated the mass shooting that left 49 people dead and dozens of others injured.
Jury selection for her federal trial began March 1 in Orlando then on Friday morning, the jury delivered a not guilty verdict on both counts after deliberating for about 12 hours. Salman was released from jail shortly before 1 p.m.
Salman's spokeswoman and her family spoke repeatedly through the duration of the trial about how Salman was eager to return home to her 5-year-old son. When asked what the future looks like for Salman, her attorney Fritz Scheller replied, "She's going to be a mother."
"She will tell her son what she always tells her son that she loves him more than anything," Scheller said as he was escorting his client from the Orange County Jail.
Fellow defense attorney Charles Swift agreed that tending to her son will be Salman's first and foremost priority.
"She'll have to explain things to her son about her father. She loves him, but they will endure. At the end of this, Noor was always about one thing, and that was (her son)," Swift said.
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Protestors are seen outside Pulse on March 30, 2018 after a jury found Noor Salman not guilty of aiding and abetting in her husband's attack on the nightclub.Protestors are seen outside Pulse on March 30, 2018 after a jury found Noor Salman not guilty of aiding and abetting in her husband's attack on the nightclub.Protestors are seen outside Pulse on March 30, 2018 after a jury found Noor Salman not guilty of aiding and abetting in her husband's attack on the nightclub.Protestors are seen outside Pulse on March 30, 2018 after a jury found Noor Salman not guilty of aiding and abetting in her husband's attack on the nightclub.Protestors are seen outside Pulse on March 30, 2018 after a jury found Noor Salman not guilty of aiding and abetting in her husband's attack on the nightclub.Protestors are seen outside Pulse on March 30, 2018 after a jury found Noor Salman not guilty of aiding and abetting in her husband's attack on the nightclub.No description foundNo description foundNo description foundNo description foundNo description foundNo description foundNo description foundNo description foundNo description foundNoor Salman leaves jail after being acquitted on all charges in connection with the Pulse terror attack.Defense attorneys Linda Moreno, Fritz Scheller and Charles Swift pose with their client Noor Salman, center, after she was found not guilty of aiding and abetting in her husband's attack on Pulse nightclub. Photo courtesy of Salman's spokeswoman Susan Clary.No description foundProtestors are seen outside of Pulse nightclub after the mass shooter's widow Noor Salman was found not guilty on March 30, 2018.Protestors are seen outside of Pulse nightclub after the mass shooter's widow Noor Salman was found not guilty on March 30, 2018.Protestors are seen outside Pulse on March 30, 2018 after a jury found Noor Salman not guilty of aiding and abetting in her husband's attack on the nightclub.Federal prosecutors leave an Orlando courthouse after Noor Salman, the widow of the Pulse nightclub gunman, was found not guilty on March 30, 2018.Protestors are seen outside Pulse on March 30, 2018 after a jury found Noor Salman not guilty of aiding and abetting in her husband's attack on the nightclub.Pulse nightclub owner Barbara Poma leaves an Orlando federal courthouse on March 30, 2018 after a jury found Noor Salman not guilty.Pulse nightclub owner Barbara Poma leaves an Orlando federal courthouse on March 30, 2018 after a jury found Noor Salman not guilty.Noor Salman's uncle, Al Salman, speaks to the media after his niece was found not guilty of aiding and abetting in her husband's attack on Pulse nightclub.Attorneys for Noor Salman speak to the media on March 30, 2018 after she was found not guilty of aiding and abetting in her husband's attack on Pulse nightclub.Attorneys for Noor Salman speak to the media on March 30, 2018 after she was found not guilty of aiding and abetting in her husband's attack on Pulse nightclub.Noor Salman's family and spokeswoman speak to the media after she was found not guilty of aiding and abetting and obstruction of justice in connection with her husband's attack on Pulse nightclub.Noor Salman's family and spokeswoman speak to the media after she was found not guilty of aiding and abetting and obstruction of justice in connection with her husband's attack on Pulse nightclub.Noor Salman's family and spokeswoman speak to the media after she was found not guilty of aiding and abetting and obstruction of justice in connection with her husband's attack on Pulse nightclub.
Protestors are seen outside Pulse on March 30, 2018 after a jury found Noor Salman not guilty of aiding and abetting in her husband's attack on the nightclub.
Salman's son has been in the care of his grandmother since she was taken into federal custody.
She didn't speak to the media when she was released from federal custody. Instead, she clung to Scheller's arm and kept her head hung low as they navigated through a swarm of reporters. When she got into her attorney's white Mercedes, she buried her face in her still-shaking hands as they drove away.
Salman's family and spokeswoman Susan Clary have said on more than one occasion that Salman was depressed and anxious being in jail and apart from her son. On Friday, her uncle Al Salman said the family plans to find her a therapist.
"We're looking forward to taking my niece and hire the best therapist for her, I don't know how she's gonna make up for the last two years," Al Salman said.
Beyond that, the widow's fate remains unclear. Her family and spokeswoman declined to provide specifics on whether Salman will return to her home state of California or what the long-term plans are for her and her son.
Clary has asked the media in both Florida and California to provide Salman with space and privacy and she reunites with her family.
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