Sources have told NBC News that Omar Mateen’s wife may face charges because she knew he wanted to carry out a terrorist attack and never told authorities.
Noor Zahi Salman told the FBI that Mateen “assured her he was simply going to see friends, although she believed he was actually planning to unleash terror at the Pulse nightclub.” She once drove him to the club, a one to two hour drive from their home in St. Lucie, “to scope it out.”
She also went with him to buy “ammunition and a holster.”
But now, though, officials have no evidence that she “ever called police to warn them that she believed Mateen was planning an attack.”
Sen. Angus King (I-ME) told CNN Wolf Blitzer that the FBI continues to speak with the FBI:
“It appears she has some knowledge of what was going on, visiting some of the other sites. We don’t know whether she was involved and knew about the purchase of the guns, which took place only about a week before the attack,” King said. “But she definitely is, I guess you would say, a person of interest right now and appears to be cooperating and can provide us with some important information on who this guy is, what his motivations were and what his plans were.”
She took a polygraph test for the FBI, but no one has released the details.
Mateen visited Disney World in April and June. Salman insisted they took a family vacation to the park in April, but authorities believe he used it as an opportunity to plan an attack.
The police have not filed charges. NBC News said authorities “worry that once charges are filed, she may stop talking.”
Salman became Mateen’s second wife in 2011 and share a three-year-old son. His first wife spoke to The Washington Post right after the attack. She said the marriage began normal, but became violent. Once her parents found out he hit her they came down to Florida and took her home.
His father Seddique said their Islam religion had nothing to do with the terrorist attack. He claimed his son “got angry” when he saw two men kissing Miami. Mateen expressed disgust with the action, especially since he had his son with him.
Yet, his high school classmate Samuel King never saw homophobic behavior from Mateen. He insisted Mateen knew he was gay and would even drink at the bar at Ruby Tuesday even though he knew the bartenders were lesbians. King showed Mateen pictures of him as a drag queen and brought him to one show.
Authorities found out that Mateen “visited gay chat rooms,” but do not know if he did it because he was gay or for surveillance. The FBI have contacted people that claim they met Mateen on gay dating apps, but so far no one has admitted sexual contact with him.
[Featured image via YouTube]
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