ORLANDO, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) - The jury foreman on the Noor Salman trial released a statement to FOX 35 on Friday evening. He said he thinks Salman knew about the planned attack at Pulse Nightclub, but the FBI botched the case.
Salman, 31, sobbed upon hearing the jury's verdict of not guilty of obstruction and providing material support to a terrorist organization, stemming from husband Omar Mateen's attack on the gay club in June of 2016. The charges could have brought life in prison.
Salman's family gasped each time the words "not guilty" were pronounced. On the other side of the courtroom, the families of the victims sat stone-faced and silent.
The stinging rejection of the case was a rare defeat for the government in a terrorism case, something the jury foreman said was the result of a failure on the part of federal investigators. The 12-member jury spent two-and-a-half days deliberating the case. The foreman asked that he not be named. Below is the his statement in its entirety: