California shooters radicalized at least 2 years ago, FBI says

WASHINGTON — The couple at the center of last week’s massacre in San Bernardino had been radicalized before their marriage, and the husband, Syed Rizwan Farook, might have plotted an attack as far back as 2012 with one of his longtime friends, senior law enforcement officials said Wednesday.

[...] the disclosures raise questions about how thoroughly U.S. law enforcement and immigration officials vetted the wife before giving her a visa to enter the U.S. from Pakistan a year before the shooting, which left 14 dead and 21 wounded.

“ISIL inspiration may well have been part of this, but these two killers were starting to radicalize towards martyrdom and jihad as early as 2013,” FBI Director James B. Comey said during testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, using an acronym for the Islamic State.

[...] that’s really before ISIL became the global jihad leader that it is.

Authorities are still seeking to corroborate what Marquez is telling them.

Because he provided two of the four weapons used by the attackers, some investigators have questioned his credibility, thinking he might exaggerate what he knows about the couple to win favor with the authorities.