Omar Mateen’s Widow ‘Not A Monster’ Despite Knowing Pulse Nightclub Shooting Plan

Noor Salman, the widow of Omar Mateen, the man who killed dozens of people in the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, told the FBI that she knew about her husband’s intended plan to carry out the mass murder and she did not alert law enforcement.

The statements that Salman provided on June 12, 2016, just hours after her husband gunned down 49 people, were submitted to the court in Florida where her trial is going on.

Salman, 31, is charged with aiding and abetting her husband’s support for a foreign terrorist organization and obstructing justice by allegedly misleading law enforcement agents in their investigation.

“I am sorry for what happened. I wish I’d go back and tell his family and the police what he was going to do,” Salman wrote in a statement that was presented to the court, New York Daily News reported

“I knew when he left the house he was going to Orlando to attack the Pulse nightclub,” Salman added. “I wish I had done the right thing but my fear held me back. I wish I had been more truthful.”

FBI Special Agent Ricardo Enriquez took the stand on Monday, confirming that he had collected three separate statements from Salman at the time he interrogated her.

He recounted that Salman initially denied having any knowledge of her husband’s plans and it was only when he had pressed on that she broke down and revealed the truth.

When Enrique said, “You know, Noor, I realize that you knew what was going on. You knew,” a sobbing Salman replied, “I knew.”

Salman also told Enrique that while driving around with her one day Mateen casually wondered aloud, “How bad would it be if a nightclub was attacked? What would make people more upset, an attack at Disney or a nightclub?”

This coupled with the fact that her husband had started watching violent jihadi beheading videos, purchased a rifle before the shooting, and also spent a lot of money on her, led Salman to suspect that Matteen might be planning a terrorist act. "I was in denial because I could not believe that the father of my child would do this," she said, CNN reported.

Later on, when she tried repeatedly and failed to reach him on his phone, she feared the worst had happened.

The validity of Salman’s statements was questioned by her attorney, despite the fact that Enrique made sure that she signed all the three statements, individually. Salman’s lawyer countered that there was no audio or video of the interrogation conducted between her client and the FBI agents.

In order to salvage Salman's image, which had been considerably tainted by her husband’s crimes, defense attorney Linda Moreno stressed the fact that Mateen's widow was a "simple young mother" with a low IQ.

"Omar Mateen is a monster. Noor Salman is a mother, not a monster. Her only sin is she married a monster," Moreno told jurors.