Omar Mateen’s wife may be charged if she knew he was planning Orlando shooting
The wife of the Orlando gunman could face criminal charges if the FBI establishes that she knew in advance he was planning a deadly attack.
Noor Zahi Salman has reportedly told agents that she tried to talk husband Omar Mateen out of the raid on the Pulse nightclub that became the deadliest gun massacre in US history.
Peter King, chairman of the homeland security subcommittee on counterintelligence and terrorism, told MSNBC after a classified briefing on Tuesday: “If it’s true that she did know that it was going to happen and she tried to talk him out of it, then it’s possible criminal action against her, and again there might be more involvement by her, so all that has to be investigated.”
The possibility that Mateen, 29, did not act alone but received support from other individuals or groups is now central to the FBI’s inquiry, King added. “If there’s anybody else that he was dealing with, anyone else he was talking with, anyone else who may have known about this, this is all where the investigation is going now.”