Friend of San Bernardino shooter arrested in connection with attack
Marquez allegedly admitted to federal investigators that he bought two rifles to carry out the plans as well as powder to make explosive devices.
Marquez bought one rifle in 2011 and another later, and gave both to Farook but did not report the transfer of ownership, two law enforcement officials told CNN on condition of anonymity.
This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Farook, the U.S-born son of Pakistani immigrants, and Pakistani-born Malik were killed in a shootout with police a few hours after their assault on the party on a holiday party of Farook’s co-workers.
In 2014, state records showed, Marquez married a Russian woman who was the sister of Farook’s older brother’s wife.
Marquez said he had nothing to do with the pipe bombs that authorities found at Farook’s home after the December 2 attack, or the ones that apparently failed to go off at the site of the shooting, the officials said. After 2012, Marquez purportedly stopped planning with Farook and distanced himself from his friend after the arrests of Ralph Deleon and others on terrorism-related charges.
Marquez said he and Malik aborted their plans after authorities interrupted a terror plot in the area in November 2012 that involved four men who wanted to join al-Qaida to fight USA forces overseas.
While the conspiracy charge doesn’t specifically accuse Marquez of having any advanced knowledge of the San Bernardino plot, FBI investigators said he and Farook did acquire the firearms with the intent of carrying out some type of violent attack – which they allegedly began discussing in 2011.
223 caliber rifles the suspects, Syed Rizwan Farook and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, used in the… Beginning in 2011, the two began hatching plans for terror strikes, frequenting gun ranges in Riverside, San Bernardino and Los Angeles to train for terrorist attacks, according to the complaint.
Right after the shooting, Marquez called his mother to say he was safe but that he wouldn’t be coming home, neighbor Lorena Aguirre said. The two used to work on cars together, and that was something that Marquez enjoyed, his friend said.
“My neighbor”, he said.
It was here that Marquez was introduced to Islam by Farook and it was here that the pair allegedly watched radical Islamist videos including lectures by a former Al Qaeda leader, Anwar Al-Awlaki.
Marquez faces an immigration fraud charge for the marriage.
The charges against Marquez are the first to stem from the investigation into the massacre, the worst terrorist attack on US soil since September 11, 2001.
Marquez’s friends were shocked to learn he was linked to the attack and described him as a friendly, easygoing guy who was not religious and rarely discussed his family or marriage.
“I don’t know. My neighbor”.
The documents offer previously unreported details about his actions and attitudes, including his disdain for American Muslims who went into the military and killed other Muslims, along with the specifics of the attacks he and Mr. Marquez had plotted and the weaponry they amassed.
Marquez was a state-licensed security guard until his license expired a year ago.
He posted a cryptic note that day on Facebook, according to the affidavit: “It was a pleasure knowing everyone”.
More times than not, that’s exactly what happens, but not in the case of Enrique Marquez.
Marquez, 24, is literally the boy next door in this unfolding narrative: He lived for many years with his family in a one-story beige house directly next to Farook.
The choice of Riverside Community College was partially motivated by familiarity with the location, as Marquez and Farook had attended the school for several years.