‘Gun supplier’ to California killers appears in US court
Print Edition
A FORMER neighbor accused of supplying assault rifles to the couple who massacred 14 people in San Bernardino in the United States appeared in court on Thursday charged with conspiring to provide material support to terrorists.
Enrique Marquez, 24, a friend of Syed Rizwan Farook, 28, who launched the Islamic State-inspired rampage on December 2 with his wife, Tashfeen Malik, 29, claimed that he and Farook plotted earlier mass casualty attacks, prosecutors said.
US Attorney Eileen Decker said the two men conspired to commit “vicious” assaults on targets including a California community college and a state highway during rush hour.
“Even though these plans were not carried out, Mr Marquez’s criminal conduct deeply affected San Bernardino ... and the United States when the guns purchased by Marquez were used to kill 14 innocent people and wound many others,” Decker said in a statement.
There was no evidence that Marquez took part in December 2 attack or had prior knowledge of it, she said.
Marquez appeared in federal court in Riverside, California for a brief hearing. He did not enter a plea.
The possibility of bail will be discussed on Monday, and a preliminary hearing is scheduled for January 4.
Marquez faces up to 35 years in prison if convicted on three separate counts.
According to an FBI affidavit, the two men met in 2005 when Marquez became Farook’s neighbor in Riverside, California.
Farook introduced Marquez to radical Islamist ideology, prosecutors said, and by 2011 Marquez was spending most of his time at Farook’s home listening to lectures and watching videos with extremist content.
At that point, the pair began planning gun and bomb attacks, the affidavit said, and Marquez told investigators the targets included Riverside Community College, where they had both been students.
He and Farook also planned to detonate pipe bombs on State Route 91 during afternoon rush hour, and then to shoot at law enforcement and emergency crews as they arrived, according to the affidavit.
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