The FBI arrested Enrique Marquez, 24, a longtime friend and former neighbor of Syed Rizwan Farook, the man who, along with his wife, Tashfeen Malik, killed 14 people and wounded 21 others in a shooting rampage at his office holiday party in California earlier this month, the Associated Press and several other news organizations reported.
Advertisement
He was charged in U.S. District Court in Riverside, California, with conspiring with Farook to provide material support – including himself, a firearm and explosives – for crimes of terrorism; making a false statement in connection with acquisition of firearms; and immigration fraud for what authorities said was his sham marriage to a distant relative of Farook’s.
Marquez was also charged with the unlawful purchase of the two assault rifles used in the shooting on December 2 carried out by US-born Farook and his Pakistani wife Tashfeen Malik, in what the FBI is investigating as a terrorist attack.
Marquez, who converted to Islam several years ago, bought the two assault rifles that Malik and Farook used in the shooting, according to law enforcement officials. There has now been an arrest in connection with the mass slaying – friend and neighbor of the couple, 24-year-old Enrique Marquez Jr. has been arrested in buying the rifles used in the attacks, as well as conspiring in at least two future other attacks.
The FBI said Farook and Malik discussed martyrdom online before they even met and were supporters of ISIS.
One day after the shootings, Marquez went to the emergency room at the UCLA Harbor Medical Center.
The attack took place on a Wednesday morning at a social services center in San Bernardino.
“Doesn’t look like he had a lot of friends”, Rork, who also works as a security guard, said.
Shortly after the attacks, a cryptic message was posted to Marquez’s Facebook page which said, “I’m”.
The two assault rifles Marquez turned over to Farook were found at the climax to a police shootout that killed Farook and his wife.
I’m guessing that Marquez will have a very long time to choose another hobby … perhaps the rest of his life.
He called 911 hours after the attack to say his neighbor had used his gun in the shooting, using an expletive to describe Farook.
Marquez’s job would be to also watch for law enforcement and fire on officers as they approached.
Agents have been investigating whether those men or any of their associates – or the FBI’s confidential informant in that case – had contact with Farook or Marquez. After that year, prosecutors said, Marquez distanced himself from Farook and ceased plotting with him.
– Farook and Malik leave their 6-month-old daughter with his mother and say they are headed to a doctor’s appointment.
Marquez 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.
REUTERS/Mike BlakeFBI and police investigators examine evidence at the scene of the investigation around the area of the SUV vehicle where two suspects were shot by police following a mass shooting in San Bernardino, California December 3, 2015.
Advertisement
“I did not know him and never heard of him until now”, said Arian Ahmad Badal, of Pomona, Calif., the driver.
