Assistant Attorney General John P. Carlin said in a statement that Marquez was charged for providing material support to terrorists “for his role in plotting attacks on American soil in 2011 and 2012, attacks which were, fortunately, not carried out”.
Advertisement
During the investigation, a law enforcement source said Marquez, who converted to Islam, and Farook apparently plotted an attack around 2012 but abandoned the idea.
Ms. Malik and Mr. Farook, armed with the assault rifles and semiautomatic pistols, opened fire on a meeting and holiday luncheon for Farook’s co-workers at San Bernardino County’s public health department on December 2, killing 14 and injuring 21.
The complaint against him states that Marquez bought two AR-15-style rifles that were used in the attack, and that he had previously acquired explosives that were later used to prepare a homemade bomb found inside the center for the disabled in San Bernardino, where the attack occurred. After clarifying that his neighbor was the shooter, Marquez added: “The f– a– used my gun in the shooting”.
Marquez is also accused of entering into a fake marriage in November 2014 with a woman who was the sister of the wife of Farook’s brother.
“I still can’t believe this is going on”, said Viviana Ramirez, who met Marquez through an online forum when they studied at Riverside Community College. 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.
Marquez was charged with illegally purchasing the rifles that the shooters used again hours later in a gunbattle with police. While there now 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.
“Specifically, Marquez admitted that he would purchase the firearms because his appearance was Caucasian, while Farook looked Middle Eastern”, reads the complaint.
Marquez told investigators his priority was to shoot law enforcement personnel before shooting life-saving personnel, according to the complaint. Federal Bureau of Investigation agents said Marquez even drew them a diagram on a campus map.
Attorneys for family members told NBC News Wednesday that the Syed Farook and Tashfeen Malik were buried on Tuesday afternoon in Southern California. Many fellow members of the mosque where they had worshipped refused to attend the service, two mosque members said. The documents say Marquez was paid $200 a month for the arrangement. Officials said he bought the two.
Their attack thrust the issues of national security and Islamic State into the US presidential campaign, and it came just weeks after Islamic State-affiliated gunmen and suicide bombers killed 130 people in a series of attacks in Paris.
Advertisement
President Barack Obama is expected to travel to San Bernardino on Friday to meet privately with families of the victims of this month’s attack.
