KILLER’S BROTHER U.S. NAVY MAN
SYED RIZWAN Farook grew up in a home so tense that his mother divorced his father whom she accused of being an abusive alcoholic, according to court records.
Farook’s mother, Rafia, described her husband in 2006 as “irresponsible, negligent and an alcoholic.” She said her husband attacked her in front of her children, dropped a TV on her and pushed her toward a car.
Still, the experience didn’t appear to sour Farook, 28, on love. He described himself on a dating site as an “Allah fearing, calm thought full (sic) and simple.”
Farook said he was a good Muslim seeking a woman who shared the same outlook and was willing to wear a hijab. The profile mentioned “living life to the fullest ... snow boarding, to go out and eat with friends, go camping, working on cars with me.”
He apparently met his future wife, Tashfeen Malik, via the Internet — but not on a dating site.
The Illinois-born Farook and his Pakistani-born wife had a 6-month-old daughter, whom they left with his mother while they went on their killing spree.
Standing outside the Riverside home of one of Farook’s sisters Thursda, a family lawyer said it’s premature to label the couple terrorists. “They were a conservative, traditional Muslim family,” lawyer David Chesley said.
Farook’s older brother, also — like their father — named Syed Farook took a vastly different path. Syed Raheel Farook joined the Navy in August 2003 and left the military four years later with accolades, a Navy spokesman told the Daily News on Thursday.
He served with distinction while working as a computer technician, according to the spokesman.He was awarded two Global War on Terrorism awards.