Syed Rizwan Farook, the San Bernardino jihadi, was in the same social circle as one of four men sent to prison for taking part in terror recruiting plot in 2012, CNN is reporting.
Investigators told the network that Farook had ties to Sohiel Kabir, a 37-year-old Afghan-born American citizen who was sentenced to 25 years in prison for his role as a ringleader of a 2012 plan to recruit fighters for al-Qaida to attack U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan.
Kabir lived in Riverside, which is near San Bernardino.
Authorities have said that the break-up of that plot likely spooked Farook and his friend Enrique Marquez, who were planning an attack of their own. Marquez is said to have provided two of the guns that Farook and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, used in last Wednesday’s massacre at San Bernardino’s Inland Regional Center.
The terrorist couple killed 14 and injured 21. They were killed by police later in the day. Marquez is said to be cooperating with investigators.
Farook’s association with Kabir raises questions about why the federal government did not have the 28-year-old health inspector on its radar before last week’s massacre.
The government is already facing scrutiny for allowing Malik into the U.S. on a fiance visa last year. State Department spokesman John Kirby has acknowledged that it is unlikely that Malik faced any tougher questioning than others applying for the visa.