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FBI arrests Noor Salman, Orlando Pulse shooter’s widow, in San Francisco
The FBI has arrested Noor Salman, the widow of Pulse nightclub shooter Omar Mateen. As you’ll recall, Mateen carried out what was (for now) the deadliest mass shooting in American history, murdering 49 people at Pulse Nightclub in Orlando last year.
We know little about his motives except that he wanted a lot LGBTQ people dead; During the attack, he claimed solidarity with ISIS, but the FBI also said there’s no evidence he actually had contact with the group.
The shooting was used by Republicans and Donald Trump to stoke xenophobia towards immigrants — even though the shooter and Salman were both born and raised in America. (They’re the descendants of immigrants, but so is just about every single person in the country.)
Now the FBI seems to have learned something that the rest of us don’t yet know because early Monday it arrested Salman at her home near San Francisco. She’s been charged with obstructing the investigation and also providing material support for the shooting. She’ll face a hearing in federal court on Tuesday.
Previously, she claimed that she had no idea what her husband was planning even though she visited Pulse before the shooting with Mateen. According to officials, her story’s been inconsistent; and now apparently they believe they’ve learned enough to charge her with abetting the horrific crime.
For now, however, the tragedy remains as senseless as ever.
Photo: Pulse memorial in Orlando. Photo by Walter via Flickr, CC 2.0
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