Enrique Marquez, Friend of San Bernardino Shooters, Denied Bail

Marquez faces charges relating to purchasing the guns Mr. Farook and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, used in the San Bernardino terrorist attack and visa fraud for consenting to a sham marriage to a relation of Farook’s.

Marquez was not charged in connection with the San Bernardino attack beyond the years-old purchase of the two assault-style rifles used in the shooting by Farook and Malik.

Appearing in a federal courtroom in Riverside on Monday, prosecutors argued Marquez was a danger to the public and a flight risk given the serious nature of the charges.

“My neighbor. He did the San Bernardino shooting”, Marquez told a 911 operator, according to a transcript released by federal authorities.

He acknowledged that Marquez cooperated with the Federal Bureau of Investigation shortly after the killings, but not before he had driven to Los Angeles County and checked himself into Harbor UCLA Medical Center, claiming suicidal impulses. “He continues to present that danger to the community”. Under Farook’s sway, Marquez converted to Islam in 2007, after which he adopted a radical philosophy, and by late 2011, the pair was preparing to carry out terror attacks, prosecutors said.

Enrique Marquez was ordered held in custody on Monday despite his family’s offer to put up $100,000 in equity on their home for bail.

Although officials reportedly said this was the first alleged terrorist plot involving freeways they’ve uncovered, LAPD Deputy Chief Michael Downing, who oversees the counterterrorism bureau, told the Times that this is a scenario officials have discussed for which they have attempted to create a response plan.

A preliminary hearing for Marquez is scheduled for January 4 at 4:30 p.m. and an arraignment is scheduled for January 6 at 9:30 a.m. Sources said Marquez cooperated during their interviews.

The affidavit describes a chilling plan the friends devised to attack the college they both had attended: throw pipe bombs into the cafeteria from an elevated position on the second floor, then take aim at those who ran.

The shooters, Syed Rizwan Farook and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, were killed in a confrontation with police a few hours later. There is no evidence that Marquez collaborated with the couple in the deadly shooting. Mr Rizwan was a Department health inspector. That’s a reference to the leader of Islamic State, authorities said.

The charges over planned attacks in 2011 and 2012 stem from a plot Marquez had with Farook to use pipe bombs and guns to kill people at the college they attended and those stuck in rush-hour traffic on a California freeway, prosecutors said in court documents.

Records show Marquez was married in November 2014 to Russian bride Mariya Chernykh, whose sister Tatiana was married three years earlier to Farook’s brother.