Chaz Harrison, a former colleague and classmate of Syed Rizwan Farook, one of the San Bernardino killers, shared details about the shooter in an interview with CBS News, saying that he told the FBI Farook “didn’t want to be in the United States” because “being in this country just didn’t fit his views.”
Harrison also said that Farook had “had a good work relationship with everyone” that he shot and wounded.
The former colleague and classmate also said Farook was very “secretive” and “didn’t want to reveal too much about his wife,” Tasheen Malik – the other suspect in the Dec. 2 massacre at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino, California that left 14 people dead and 21 others wounded.
In 2008, Harrison and Farook met in college. The two ended up working together in San Bernardino after college. Harrison indicated that he observed Farook change over time.
“He liked to talk about cars a lot – fixing things, building things – he liked to talk about religion a lot,” Harrison told CBS News’ David Begnaud. “He wanted to start a business, he wanted to just get a truck, put some tools in it and go around and fix people’s cars. So there was a point where he was definitely making long term goals.”
Although he intended to carry out those plans in the U.S., Harrison also said he told the FBI that Farook “didn’t want to be in the United States” because “being in this country just didn’t fit his views.”
Farook, a Muslim, was “passionate about his religion” and felt that he was unable to practice it the way he wanted to in America, reportedly said Harrison.
“He told me that him paying taxes was helping the United States support basically the war on Islam, the war on Muslims,” added Harrison.
Farook said he attempted to move to Dubai, but was unable to find a job there, noted Harrison.
The killer “had a good work relationship with” all his victims, which made his attack on his own colleagues puzzling, pointed out the former colleague.
“I was trying to call him and I called every single person that possibly could have been in that building to find out if they were okay. And I’m over here calling this guy to find out if he’s okay – and he’s the shooter? You know… how do you?” said Harrison, unable to finish his thought.
Farook was “very secretive” about his wife and accomplice Tasheen Malik, declared Harrison.
“One of the first things I said, ‘Hey you got a picture?’ He didn’t have any pictures,” added Farook’s ex-colleague. “He said that she was very uncomfortable. Everyone looked at her – they stared at her because of the way she dressed.”
Although other coworkers have described Farook as somewhat timid, Harrison said he had a different impression of the shooter.
“Syed was a talker,” Harrison said. “He was very confident when he talked. There was times when we walked out of work, in the morning, I couldn’t get him to stop talking.”
Both Farook and his wife were killed by police after the couple carried out the killing spree at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino. The attack has been linked to the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL).
“Just after the shooting began, Malik [the wife] went on Facebook and pledged her allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the emir of the self-proclaimed Islamic State, the militant group that says it has established a caliphate in Syria and Iraq, according to law enforcement officials,” reported The Washington Post. “A Facebook official confirmed the posting, speaking on the condition of anonymity due to the ongoing investigation.”
“The company official said Facebook identified and removed the post a day after the attack, saying that any content praising an Islamic State leader violated its community standards,” added the report. “The company said that content remained available for a period of time after deletion and that it was cooperating with law enforcement.”
Facebook did not respond to Breitbart News’ requests for comment.
On Friday, FBI Director James Comey finally said that the San Bernardino massacre was being treated as an act of terrorism.
“The investigation so far has developed indications of radicalization by the killers and of potential inspiration by foreign terrorist organizations,” said Comey, adding that authorities have “no indication that these killers are part of an organized larger group.”
Aamaq, a news agency that supports ISIS, claimed on Friday that the San Bernardino terrorist attack was carried out by ISIS operatives.
However, it remains uncertain whether the Aamaq report amounts to an official claim of responsibility by ISIS given that the news agency is not the jihadist group’s official media arm.
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