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Neighbour who bought guns used in California massacre charged with terrorism counts

TheZephyrSong

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Neighbour who bought guns used in California massacre charged with terrorism counts


PUBLISHED : Friday, 18 December, 2015, 9:05am
UPDATED : Friday, 18 December, 2015, 9:05am

Associated Press in Los Angeles

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Weapons used in the December 2 San Bernardino attack are shown in this San Bernardino County Sheriff Department handout photo. Federal authorities say Enrique Marquez supplied guns used in the attack. Photo: Reuters

The man who bought the assault rifles used by his friend in the San Bernardino massacre has been charged with terrorism-related counts.

The FBI arrested Enrique Marquez, 24, on charges of conspiring with Syed Rizwan Farook to commit terrorist attacks in 2011 and 2012 that they never carried out. Marquez was Farook’s next-door neighbor and longtime friend who converted to Islam and was radicalised by Farook, federal prosecutors said.

Marquez also was charged with illegally purchasing two assault rifles used by Farook and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, to kill 14 people at a holiday gathering of Farook’s health department co-workers on December 2. The shooters died hours later in a gunbattle with police.

Marquez had no role in the attack, but prosecutors said the guns and bomb-making materials he bought that the couple planned to detonate linked him to the killings.

“While there currently is no evidence that Mr Marquez participated in the December 2 attack or had advance knowledge of it, his prior purchase of the firearms and ongoing failure to warn authorities about Farook's intent to commit mass murder had fatal consequences,” US Attorney Eileen Decker said.

Authorities previously said Marquez had legally purchased the high-powered guns.

The FBI investigated the rampage as an act of terrorism and said the Muslim couple were radicalised before they met online and communicated privately about jihad and martyrdom before they married.

US President Barack Obama said he was briefed on the investigation Thursday and reiterated the federal government’s commitment to find answers to all the unknowns in the case.

Marquez had deep ties with Farook that extended to a family connection. The two grew up next door to each other in Riverside and then became related through marriage.

Both men were witnesses at the wedding of Farook’s brother, Raheel, to a Russian woman in 2011, according to Riverside County marriage records.

Last year, Marquez married the sister of Raheel Farook’s wife. That made Marquez and Raheel Farook brothers-in-law and gave Marquez and Syed Rizwan Farook a sister-in-law in common.

Marquez faces an additional immigration charge for a sham marriage.

Records show that Marquez married Mariya Chernykh at a ceremony at the Islamic Society of Corona-Norco, though the mosque’s facility manager denied it occurred there.

Marquez was not a member of that mosque, Azmi Hasan said. Marquez worshipped there three to four times over seven years, Hasan said.

Right after the shooting, Marquez called his mother to say he was safe but that he wouldn’t be coming home, neighbour Lorena Aguirre said. He later checked into a mental health facility.

Three days after the attack, federal agents raided his mother’s house in Riverside, a city near San Bernardino that is about 100km east of Los Angeles.

Armida Chacon has said her son is a good person who loved to hang out with friends and go to parties, according to The Los Angeles Times.

“I don't know how this happened. ... My world is upside-down,” she said tearfully.

When asked about Syed Farook, she said her son was friends with him and “nothing more.”

Marquez was a licensed security guard for several years, but his license expired at the end of 2014. He was hired to work at Wal-Mart in May but has since been fired, a company spokesman said.



 
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