Wife of Orlando’s Pulse shooter gives interview for the first time in years The wife of the Pulse shooter is speaking out for the first time in years, giving a greater accounting of her side of the story than she ever has publicly. In a new interview with Vice, Noor Salman painted a picture of a deeply abusive marriage that still offered no indication of what nightclub shooter Omar Mateen was planning. Salman enlisted family members to help get his abuses in line, which included carving up his son’s toys with a knife in a fit of rage, to no avail. Salman has left Orlando for California, changed her name and instructed her son to tell people he never knew his father. She says she frequently goes out in a kind of disguise, attempting to look as different as possible from the photos of her that were shared on the news. Salman was tried and acquitted on allegations of aiding Mateen’s attack, at the time the deadliest mass shooting in American history. On the day after the shooting, investigators seemingly coerced a confession out of her during an 11-hour investigation. Though she told police that she wished she could go back in time and tell people what Mateen planned to do, further investigation found that Salman would have had no way of knowing what the shooter was planning. In her talks with Vice, she admitted she went along with the “confession” because she wanted to get out of the room. Now, she’s trying to raise her young son, who is fully aware of what his father did, and avoid being recognized. “You did something so selfish, so evil, and you stuck me with your child,” she said of the situation. “Now I have to figure out how we’ll survive.” The interview with Salman reveals a rather lonely existence, isolated from people who still refuse to be around her even after a jury cleared her name. “I still have people that won’t associate with me even after my acquittal,” Salman said.
School board member details threats made against her for supporting mask mandate Brevard County School Board member Jennifer Jenkins is one of several school board members across Florida who have been threatened or otherwise harassed for their support of school mask mandates. Jenkins went viral this week for explaining the threats of violence she’s received during a recent school board meeting. In an address to the audience, she countered the line from Tallahassee that investigations into harassment
are quashing the free speech rights of citizens. “I don’t reject people coming here and speaking their voice,” Jenkins said, before detailing several instances of intimidation and threats. “I reject them following my car around. I reject them saying that they’re coming for me, that I need to beg for mercy.” Jenkins said protesters came to her home brandishing weapons, and noted that one woman coughed in her face intentionally when she confronted them. That story is backed up by a police report from local authorities. She also says one of her trees was chopped down and the letters “F U” burned into her lawn with grass killer. “I reject that when they are using their First Amendment rights on public property, they’re also going behind my home and brandishing their weapons to my neighbors,” she said at the meeting. An NBC News report reveals that a false report of abuse was filed against Jenkins with the Department of Children and Families, alleging she beat and burned her 5-year-old daughter. An examination found no signs of abuse and concluded that the report was further harassment. Gov. Ron DeSantis has repeatedly pushed back on federal investigations into the threats being made against school board members, and continues to fight to keep his executive order barring mask mandates in place. The Florida School Boards Association broke from the national organization to side with DeSantis.
Vermont family alleges toddler was sexually assaulted on Disney Cruise Line ship A Vermont family is suing Disney for $20 million, saying their child was sexually assaulted while in the care of a Disney Cruise Line day care facility. The anonymous couple claim that their toddler was assaulted aboard the Disney Fantasy during a January 2020 cruise in a lawsuit filed Sept. 22. They say that their child, identified as R.V., was “physically restrained and sexually assaulted by a significantly older child.” They claim that Disney is at fault for understaffing their Oceaneer Club daycare, allowing the alleged assault to happen outside of supervision The lawsuit also claims that Disney should have separated children by age group to avoid the situation they describe. Representatives for Disney called the case baseless and said that the matter had already been investigated by local authorities. “The plaintiffs’ first allegations were reported to the
FBI, and the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office investigated them and determined them to be unfounded,” said Disney Cruise Line spokesperson Cynthia Martinez in a statement. “The plaintiffs have now come back with a different story, which is equally unfounded, that another young female child acted inappropriately with their child. We will vigorously defend this case in court.”
Orlando Fringe to head back downtown for Winter Mini-Fest in January It’s been quite a while since Orlando Fringe, the spring bacchanal of experimental theater, has called downtown Orlando home. In 2003, the long-running fest made the decision to move to Loch Haven Park. But an offshoot of the big bash is putting out-there performances back where they began. This year’s Fringe Winter Mini-Fest will bring the organization back into downtown. The next Winter Mini-Fest will take over Haos on Church and the Floridabilt for their January event. Unlike the main Fringe, the mini-fest is much more intentional in the way it goes about putting on shows. Rather than opening up a firehose of outsider energy, Winter Mini-Fest is curated by the organizers, who invite performers they love to show off their work. Winter Mini-Fest shows will run from Jan. 13-16, 2022. A follow-up online mini-fest will run from Jan. 19-23. Tickets to the in-person shows go on sale Nov. 19 at orlandofringe.org.
Brevard Public Schools remove graphic novel about being genderqueer Brevard Public Schools has pulled from its libraries an illustrated graphic novel that depicts the experience of learning to exist outside the gender binary, calling it “inappropriate.” Maia Kobabe’s Gender Queer: A Memoir was pulled from school shelves by BPS leaders and flagged so that more copies would not be purchased. “BPS staff immediately agreed that this book violates our guidelines and that it has no place in our school district. I have directed staff to ensure there are no other similar books in our libraries,” BPS Superintendent Dr. Mark Mullins said. “I want to remind families that each school’s library books can be reviewed online. I encourage parents to review the content that is available to students.” The announcement of the removal of a book about coming to terms with identity and sharing with friends and family came shortly after National Coming Out Day. — Alex Galbraith
orlandoweekly.com
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OCT. 20-26, 2021 ● ORLANDO WEEKLY
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