SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — A federal judge in Florida has reversed the order that would have allowed the wife of the Orlando nightclub shooter out on bail.
The young mother has been locked up in the Santa Rita Jail in Dublin since her arrest in January.
KRON4’s Maureen Kelly has new details on the prosecution’s case and reaction from a friend of Noor Salman.
“Have mercy, and let her come out now and see her family, see her son,” Salman’s friend Maisa Mustafa said.
That’s the plea to the judge in Florida from a woman who says Salman is like a daughter to her.
She says she and Salman’s mother cried after hearing the decision blocked that would have to let the young mother return to her family.
On Wednesday, a federal judge in Oakland said Salman should be allowed to make bail because there was no proof that she has ties to the Islamic State or holds extremist views herself.
In their motion to keep Salman jailed until trial, prosecutors said there is a presumption in the law for her to stay locked up because the massacre in the gay nightclub that left 49 people dead involves terrorism.
They claim she knew her husband Omar Mateen watched ISIS training and beheading videos and allegedly told the FBI that the day of the shooting, she knew Mateen left her home with a rifle and a backpack full of ammunition.
Salman’s attorney says Mateen was abusive to her, and that she did not know what he intended to do.
Mateen was killed later in a shootout with police.
“Why do they want to go after her? Because they couldn’t find anything. He is already dead,” Mustafa said. “They want to judge her for what he already did. This is not fair.”
The family friend says Salman just wants to take care of her 4-year-old son who she hasn’t seen since she was taken into custody in January because she can’t bear to see him behind glass and not hold him.
The judge in Florida plans to make his own decision on whether or not to allow Salman to post bail.
He is giving her attorneys until next Wednesday to submit arguments as to why she should be able to live with family until her trial, a date for which has not been set.