Months ago, Noor Tagouri's face was making the rounds online> after appearing on Playboy. She was the first hijabi to be featured on the magazine typically associated with nudes. Now, her face has been mistakenly linked with the Orlando shooter Omar Mateen's wife, Noor Salman.
Raw Story used a photo of Tagouri in a story announcing the arrest of Omar Mateen's wife, who was charged with "obstructing the investigation of the mass shooting," in their Monday story.
When Tagouri realized her photo was being used, she immediately reached out to the publication. Surprisingly, it took them over 24 hours to respond and retract the photo.
"To be clear, the only thing Mateen's wife and I have in common is our first name, Noor," Tagouri said in a statement.
Once the photo was taken down, a cached version of the image was still showing up in Google search.
Tagouri felt "sick to her stomach" after seeing her photo attached to someone who was charged with obstructing the investigations of the >horrific mass shooting, which left 49 people dead and 53 others injured.
"The first time I heard Mateen's wife and I shared the same name, I immediately felt a fear that I would be associated with the terrible suffering he caused in Orlando," Tagouri says.
"This is a fear felt time and again by Muslim Americans."
After the publication caught on to the error, they apologized and updated their story with an Editor's Note pinned to the top.
"Raw Story deeply regrets the error," it says.
Nour Salman, the Orlando shooter's wife, was first interrogated by law enforcement authorities in the immediate aftermath of the incident, which happened in June, 2016. However, she was taken into custody by F.B.I. agents on Monday.
In an interview with The New York Times in November, Salman said she was “unaware of everything” when talking about her links to the attack.
Tagouri made headlines back in September when she >became the first Muslim hijabi to be featured in Playboy.
Raw Story used her very same photo when they covered her appearance in Playboy ... only to use it again when reporting the arrest of Noor Salman.
Her Playboy appearance wasn't the first time Libyan journalist caused a stir. She stole the spotlight earlier this year when she became the first hijab-wearing news anchor on commercial US television.