ORLANDO, Fla. _ Noor Zahi Salman, widow of the Pulse nightclub shooter, pleaded not guilty on Wednesday in a California courtroom to both federal charges against her.
Prosecutors say Salman, 30, knew about Omar Mateen's plan that left 49 people dead and another 68 injured on June 12.
Salman entered her plea to U.S. District Judge Donna Ryu.
She was represented by a local attorney for Wednesday's hearing, but will eventually hire Charles Swift, a Texas lawyer from the Constitutional Law Center for Muslims in America. He must first get permission to practice law in California.
Salman, who was arrested Monday at her home outside San Francisco, will stay in jail until her Feb. 1 bail hearing. She will eventually come to Central Florida to face the charges for which she was indicted: aiding and abetting, and obstructing justice by lying to investigators. The indictment came from a federal grand jury in Orlando.
Investigators spent hours interviewing Salman after the shooting, trying to determine what she knew about. She told the FBI she went with Mateen to Pulse at least once before the massacre, investigators said. She also said she was with him when he bought ammunition.
After the shooting, Salman moved to California with her 4-year-old son, Zakariaya Omar Mateen. She also changed his name.
