President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama will meet privately Friday night with relatives of victims killed in the mass shooting at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino, where 14 people died, including a Los Angeles man and a Santa Ana woman.
The Obamas are scheduled to arrive in San Bernardino at 7:40 p.m. and remain there for about two hours before continuing on to Hawaii, where the family will spend the Christmas holiday.
The visit comes one day after the man accused of buying the semi- automatic rifles used in the shooting by the husband-wife team that carried out the assault was charged with a trio of federal crimes. Enrique Marquez Jr., 24, a former neighbor of shooter Syed Farook, was arrested Thursday and charged with providing material support to terrorist, making false statements in the acquisition of firearms and fraudulent procurement of an immigration visa.
Marquez appeared briefly before Magistrate Sheri Pym at the U.S. District Court in downtown Riverside Thursday and is due back in court Monday.
Killed in the Dec. 2 shooting were: Shannon Johnson, 45, of Los Angeles, 45; Tin Nguyen, 31, of Santa Ana; Sierra Clayborn, 27, of Moreno Valley; Yvette Velasco, 27, of Fontana; Aurora Godoy, 26, of San Jacinto; Damian Meins, 58, of Riverside; Robert Adams, 40, of Yucaipa; Isaac Amanios, 60, of Fontana; Bennetta Bet-Badal, 46, of Rialto; Harry Bowman, 46, of Upland; Juan Espinoza, 50, of Highland; Larry Kaufman, 42, of Rialto; Nicholas Thalasinos, 52, of Colton; and Michael Wetzel, 37, of Lake Arrowhead.
According to court papers, Marquez and Farook plotted in 2011 to carry out an attack on Riverside Community College and the Riverside (91) Freeway, neither of which went past the planning stage.
Federal authorities allege that in 2011 and 2012, Marquez purchased the two AR-15-style rifles used in the mass shooting at the Inland Regional Center, which the government says in court documents was an Islamist-motivated act of terrorism.
“Mr. Marquez conspired with Mr. Farook to commit vicious attacks,” U.S. Attorney Eileen M. Decker said. “Even though these plans (in 2011) were not carried out, Mr. 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 (22) others.”
Decker said there’s no evidence Marquez actively participated in the Dec. 2 attack in San Bernardino. But federal prosecutors said that in addition to purchasing the two rifles, Marquez also purchased explosive material that was used to build a pipe bomb found at the IRC immediately after the shootings.
According to prosecutors, Marquez moved to Riverside and met Farook, his next-door neighbor, in 2005. Under Farook’s tutelage, Marquez converted to Islam in 2007, after which he adopted a radical philosophy, and by late 2011, the pair were preparing to perpetrate terrorist attacks, prosecutors said.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Marquez admitted making plans with Farook to carry out an attack at the library or cafeteria of Riverside Community College, where both attended. They allegedly planned to throw pipe bombs into the cafeteria from a second floor, then open fire on people as they tried to flee.
They also schemed to go on a killing spree on the eastbound 91 during afternoon rush-hour, identifying a particular section of roadway that would afford motorists no means of escape. Investigators allege Farook intended to toss pipe bombs onto the road to halt traffic, providing sitting targets, while Marquez watched from a high perch, shooting at first responders as they arrived.
The defendant apparently backed out of the terrorist plots after the arrests in 2012 of four men who were gearing up to join the Taliban in Afghanistan. Two of the four — Ralph Kenneth DeLeon and Sohiel Omar Kabir — were convicted in 2014 of conspiring to kill American troops overseas.
The other two defendants, Miguel Alejandro Santana Vidriales and Arifeen David Gojali, pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges. All were sentenced to between 10 and 25 years in federal prison earlier this year by U.S. District Judge Virginia Phillips in Riverside.
According to prosecutors, Marquez purchased a Smith and Wesson M&P-15 Sport rifle in November 2011 and a DPMS model AR-15 rifle in February 2012. Those weapons were used in the San Bernardino shooting.
Farook, 28, and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, 27, were fatally shot in a gun battle with police hours after the Dec. 2 killing spree. They were buried at an undisclosed location in Southern California Wednesday.
Farook brought Malik to the United States in 2014 on a fiance visa. FBI Director James Comey said the couple had been “radicalized” long before the shooting, even prior to being married.
Farook was an employee of the San Bernardino County Public Health Department. He attended a department holiday party at the IRC the morning of the shooting, but left and returned to kill.
A Facebook account associated with Malik was used to search for materials related to the ISIS terrorist group, and shortly after the rampage, she posted on Facebook: “We pledge allegiance to Khalifa bu bkr al bhaghdadi al quraishi.” That’s a reference to the leader of Islamic State, authorities said.
The immigration fraud count against Marquez stems from his “sham” marriage to a member of Farook’s extended family, enabling her to obtain U.S. residency, for which Marquez was paid $200 a month, prosecutors said. Marquez’s wife’s sister is married to Farook’s older brother.
—City News Service