Prosecutors: Widow of Pulse gunman knew about attack

The widow of the Pulse nightclub shooter appeared disheveled Tuesday as she appeared before a federal judge in California for the first time since her arrest the day before on charges related to the June 12 massacre.

A federal prosecutor argued Noor Zahi Salman, 30, knew about her husband’s plan at the Orlando nightclub that killed 49 people and injured at least 68 others, and failed to do anything to stop it.

She barely spoke at the hearing in Oakland, Calif., before a judge postponed it until Wednesday so one of her lawyers could arrive to represent her. She was wearing a wrinkled, mustard-colored shirt with baggy gray pants, and appeared to be trembling at the start of the hearing.

FBI agents arrested Salman on Monday at her home outside San Francisco after a grand jury in Orlando indicted her on charges obstruction of justice and aiding and abetting Mateen in his support of ISIL.

She is the only person facing charges related to the shooting. Her husband, Omar Mateen, was killed in a shootout with police after holding terrified and injured clubgoers hostage for nearly three hours.

Federal agents say from at least April until the shooting, Salman aided Mateen in his attempt to provide “material support or resources” to ISIL, a designated foreign terrorist organization, according to investigators.

She also is accused of misleading the FBI and investigators with the Fort Pierce Police Department, where she and Mateen lived, on the day of the attack, according to the records. In doing so, agents said Salman prevented investigators from getting information about the attack.

She moved from Fort Pierce with her son last year back to Southern California and has moved several times since then, trying to avoid media attention. In December, she filed a petition to change the boy’s name, Zakariaya Omar Mateen.

Authorities have been investigating Salman since the attack, trying to determine what — if anything — she knew about her husband’s plans.

She initially told investigators she once visited Pulse with her husband and went with him to purchase ammunition. She later changed her story, saying she warned Mateen the day of the shooting not to carry it out, sources have said.

During a phone call with a police dispatcher during the attack, Mateen pledged allegiance to the Islamic State and officials said he appeared to have been self-radicalized.

He didn’t appear to have any foreign ties to the terrorists, officials said, but watched online jihadist sermons and downloaded terrorist videos to his laptop.

After the hearing Tuesday, Salman’s uncle, Al Salman, defended his niece, saying she didn’t have any advance knowledge of the shooting.

He called her an “innocent person,” who was afraid to leave an abusive relationship with Mateen because she feared she’d lose her young son.

“She doesn’t know what was going on. She is a very simple person,” he told reporters. “If she [knew] what that crazy guy would do, she wouldn’t be here. She would take her son and run away from him.”

A judge Wednesday is expected to rule on whether Salman should be released or held in custody until her next hearing.

She will be extradited to Central Florida to face charges.

If convicted on both charges, prosecutors say Salman faces up to life in prison.

Los Angeles Times reporters Maura Dolan and Matt Pearce contributed to this report from Oakland, Calif. and Los Angeles.

sallen@orlandosentinel.com; maura.dolan@latimes.com; matt.pearce@latimes.com