Jury selection begins for widow of Florida club shooter

March 1 (UPI) -- Jury selection began Thursday in the trial of Noor Salman -- the widow of Pulse nightclub shooter Omar Mateen, who killed 50 people in a mass shooting nearly two years ago.

Salman, 31, is charged with obstructing justice and aiding and abetting her husband in supporting the Islamic State terror network.

Mateen, who was killed by police following the June 2016 attack, was armed with a handgun and an assault rifle when he began firing.

Salman was hours away at the couple's home in Ft. Pierce, Fla., when her husband attacked the club in Orlando.

Salman was arrested in January and has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Miami resident Bob Kunst told the Orlando Sentinel Thursday he wanted to "take a stand against the insanity" of what Americans have been experiencing with the school attack in Parkland, Fla., last month.

"She deserves the death penalty. Nothing less," Kunst told the Sentinel. "You have to send a message to every one of these people that are out there ready to do us in that you have to pay the penalty."

Salman faces life in prison, but not the death penalty. The case will be tried in the courtroom of Middle District of Florida Judge Paul G. Byron. It is expected to last three weeks.

If convicted on both counts, Salman would also be forced to forfeit $30,500 in cash and jewelry purchased by Mateen in the days before the attack.