Noor Salman, the widow of the Pulse nightclub gunman, on Friday was found not guilty of providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization and not guilty of obstruction of justice in connection with her husband's 2016 killing spree.
"Noor can go home now to her son, resume her life and try to pick up the pieces from two years in jail", she said. "This is a case where the more we learned, the better Noor Salman looked", said one of her attorneys.
Prosecutors said that Salman, 31, helped her husband, even if she didn't pull the actual trigger that night.
"I say that day one she is innocent", he said. Her supporters said that the prosecution's attack on the widow was "rooted in gendered Islamophobia and patriarchy" and "guilt by association".
The 12-member jury delivered its verdict after deliberating for about 12 hours over three days.
"She doesn't go to the mosque, she searches for Hello Kitty on her website", defense attorney Charles Swift said in his closing argument.
Noor Salman began sobbing with joy when the decision was read out at the U.S. district court in the Florida city. It's a disgusting, random, senseless killing by a monster.
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Russian media claimed at the time that this was in protest of the European Missile Defense Shield being built by the U.S. Putin has made much of developing such "invincible" systems as a counter to costly U.S. missile defense programs.
Salman's attorneys denied her involvement in the mass shooting.
Law enforcement officials at the scene of the Pulse nightclub in June of 2016.
According to prosecutors, Mateen meant to attack Disney World's shopping and entertainment complex by hiding a gun in a stroller but became spooked by police and chose a new target. Moreno also suggested that investigators had tampered with and planted evidence to make Salman seem like a guilty accessory to the crime. They also heard his conversations with an Orlando police negotiator, in which he declared his support for the Islamic State, blaming US military strikes in the Middle East for the attack. This includes Orange County Sheriff Jerry L. Demings who said, "I am disappointed in the outcome of the trial and know that the victims and/or their families are more disappointed".
Defense attorneys described Salman, who was born in California to Palestinian parents, as a simple woman with a low IQ. Her lawyers said she had no knowledge and was mentally and physically abused by him.
Offering an especially chilling detail, Ms. Sweeney suggested that Mr. Mateen bought a baby carriage and doll at a Walmart the night before the massacre so that he could hide his AR-15 assault rifle and draw no suspicion as he walked toward what prosecutors believe was his intended target, the Disney Springs shopping and entertainment complex, formerly known as Downtown Disney.
"He said out of his mouth that he was doing this for a specific reason to avenge the people of his country", she said. The case against her mainly consisted of a so-called confession she made to the police after intense questioning for over 17 hours.
Using geolocation data from cellphone records and documentary evidence of the couple's whereabouts, the Federal Bureau of Investigation had already concluded - long before Salman was arrested - that it was impossible that she went to Pulse with Mateen on that date.
