Bernardino Shooter’s Friend Makes Second Court Appearance

A bail hearing was scheduled to be held in Riverside Monday for Enrique Marquez, the longtime friend and neighbor of San Bernardino shooter Syed Rizwan Farook.

He did not enter a plea.

Marquez, 24, was charged last week with conspiring to provide material support to terrorism, making a false statement in connection with the acquisition of firearms and immigration fraud.

Prosecutors are asking that Marquez remain held for the community’s safety and because they fear he would flee if released.

“At this point the defendant has not yet rebutted the presumption that he is a danger to the community”, Bristow said.

Enrique Marquez shuffled into court in Riverside on Monday with his ankles and hands cuffed. His face was covered in stubble and he swiveled back and forth in his chair as his lawyers spoke.

Some of the charges against Marquez stem from conversations that began in 2011 between him and Farook in which the pair allegedly conspired to plot attacks against Riverside City College and drivers on the 91 Freeway. He then checked himself into a mental health facility.

At the time of the attack, Marquez was working at a Riverside bar and is not alleged to have had a role in the attack. The next year, Farook introduced Marquez to Islam.

The FBI has carefully stated in the criminal complaint against Marquez that he was not actually involved in the San Bernadino shootings in any way and that he spoke willingly with agents throughout the investigation, said Attorney E. Martin Estrada, a former federal prosecutor in Los Angeles.

All this should make an easy case against Marquez, who has shown signs of guilt over his small part in what Federal Bureau of Investigation are calling the worst terrorist attack on American soil since 9/11.

President Barack Obama on Friday met privately with families of the victims of the December 2 attack en route to Hawaii for Christmas vacation with his family.