First, they must establish that a terrorist act was committed when he killed 49 in June 2016 at the gay club in Orlando prosecutors said he was motivated by Islamic terrorism.
They also watched a video taken during the shooting by a survivor inside the club.įederal prosecutors are trying to link 31-year-old Noor Salman to the actions of her husband, Omar Mateen. They listened to one witness who hid under a dead body for three hours as shots were fired, and an Orlando police detective who choked up on the stand. Jurors at the trial of the widow of a man who shot and killed 49 people at a Florida nightclub heard emotional accounts of what unfolded that evening. His wife is on trial for aiding and abetting him in the attack, and for allegedly lying to investigators. The video showed him reloading as people near him tried to crawl to safety.
Mateen moved toward a bar in the back of the club, before shooting again. As the gunfire began, victims began to collapse over one another, falling like dominoes atop each other.
Minutes later, Mateen was shown entering the club through the front doors. The Orlando Sentinel reports the disturbing video showed club-goers dancing and mingling prior to the attack, as Mateen's vehicle pulled up outside the club. The video shown in federal court Thursday included footage of Noor Salman's husband, Omar Mateen, as he stalked the nightclub, spraying bullets.
