Radicalised guard faces charges

LOS ANGELES: US authorities arrested on Thursday the Walmart security guard who bought the assault rifles used in the San Bernardino massacre that left 14 people dead, charging him with plotting terror attacks with Syed Farook, who was behind the rampage.

Enrique Marquez, 24, was charged with conspiring with Farook — a longtime friend and former neighbour — to commit two terrorist attacks in 2011 and 2012, although neither plot was ever carried out.

Mr Marquez was also charged with the unlawful purchase of the guns used in the Dec 2 shooting rampage carried out by USborn Farook and his Pakistani wife Tashfeen Malik, as well as the purchase of some of the explosive material used in the attack.

The three-count criminal complaint also charged Mr Marquez with defrauding immigration authorities by entering into a sham marriage with a Russian woman who was a member of Farook’s extended family, US Attorney for the Central District of California Eileen Decker said in a statement.

Mr Marquez made his initial appearance in federal court in Riverside, California, where he did not enter a plea but was appointed a lawyer.

“Marquez conspired with Farook to commit vicious attacks,” said Ms Decker.

“Even though these plans were not carried out, Marquez’s criminal conduct deeply affected San Bernardino County, Southern California and the entire United States when the guns purchased by Marquez were used to kill 14 innocent people and wound many others.”

The arrest marks a major development in the San Bernardino case being investigated by authorities as a terrorist assault — the deadliest since the Sept 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Centre.

Ms Decker said there was no evidence Mr Marquez took part in the attack on a holiday party at a social services centre or had any prior knowledge.

However, she added: “His prior purchase of the firearms and ongoing failure to warn authorities about Farook’s intent to commit mass murder had fatal consequences.”

Investigations indicate that Farook had become radicalised several years before the Dec 2 killings and even before he started dating his wife through an online dating website.

Authorities said that on the morning of the assault in San Bernardino, Malik searched social media for information related to the Islamic State (IS) group, which has hailed the attack but stopped short of admitting responsibility for it.

Shortly after the massacre, authorities say, a Facebook page associated with Malik proclaimed allegiance to IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

Farook and Malik, who had a baby daughter, died in a gun battle with police following the shooting.

Mr Marquez checked himself into a mental health facility after the massacre and posted a cryptic message on Facebook that said, “I’m. Very sorry guys. It was a pleasure,” the Los Angeles Times reported.

Mr Marquez, who had been working as a security guard at Walmart, was known for his shy and mild-mannered demeanour.

He was described as both impressionable and the type of person who “couldn’t fight his way out of a wet paper bag”, the owner of a bar where he used to work told the Times.

According to the criminal complaint, Mr Marquez met Farook around 2004 when he moved to Riverside.

Farook subsequently introduced him to Islam and in 2007 Mr Marquez converted to the religion.

Shortly thereafter, Farook introduced him to radical Islam, prosecutors say. Mr Marquez faces up to 15 years in prison on the charge of providing material support to terrorists and up to 10 years each on the firearms and visa fraud charges.

He will be arraigned on Jan 6 when he will enter a plea.