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San Bernardino shooting: Enrique Marquez Jr. agrees to plead guilty to supporting terrorists
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File: In this Dec. 21, 2015, courtroom sketch, Enrique Marquez Jr. appears in federal court in Riverside, Calif. Marquez, a friend of one of the shooters in the San Bernardino massacre that killed 14 people, was indicted Wednesday, Dec. 30, on five charges that include conspiring in a pair of previous planned attacks and making false statements when he bought the guns used in this month's shootings, authorities said.
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Enrique Marquez Jr. has agreed to plead guilty to conspiring with San Bernardino shooter Syed Rizwan Farook in order to provide material support to terrorists in 2011 and 2012, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. The attack they allegedly planned was never carried out, but is believed to have served as the basis for Farook's 2015 attack. Farook and his wife killed 14 people and injured 22 others in a Dec. 2, 2015 attack at the San Bernardino Inland Regional Center.
The charges Marquez has agreed to plea guilty to include providing material support and resources to terrorists, including weapons, explosives and personnel. The plan Farook and Marquez allegedly made was to attack Riverside City College and 91 Freeway commuter traffic.
"While his earlier plans to attack a school and a freeway were not executed, the planning clearly laid the foundation for the 2015 attack on the Inland Regional Center," U.S. Attorney Eileen M. Decker said in a statement. "When this defendant pleads guilty, all four individuals charged, including three of the shooters’ family members, will be convicted."
Marquez has also agreed to plead guilty to making false statements related to being a "straw buyer," purchasing two assault rifles that were ultimately used in the Dec. 2, 2015 attack.
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Farook and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, were killed in a shootout with law enforcement following the 2015 attack.
Marquez is scheduled to enter his guilty please in court Thursday morning.
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