“Why is this man [Marquez] not being charged with murder? If he had not purchased those weapons, we would not be here. He should get life without parole. A whole life. He’s going to get a slap on the wrist. I can’t get my head around it.”
Neither can I. It’s a travesty of justice. But of course, the criminal justice system doesn’t want to appear “Islamophobic.”
“‘Travesty’: Father of San Bernardino victim tears into justice system as Islamic extremist convert who aided mass murderers ESCAPES a life sentence,” by Ruth Styles, Dailymail.com, February 16, 2017:
The father of one of the San Bernardino terror attack victims has called the fact that the Muslim convert who aided the mass murderer will escape a life term a ‘travesty’.
Enrique Marquez Jr was in court in Riverside, California, Thursday to enter a guilty plea as part of a deal that will see him sentenced to a maximum of 25 years.
He bought guns which were used in the massacre and had been plotting other terror attacks for years with Syed Rizwan Farook.
He had been facing up to 50 years behind bars if he had been convicted after a trial.
But Gregory Clayborn, 58, of Los Angeles, California, stood up before Judge Jesus G. Bernal to demand he gets life without parole. Outside court, he called the deal a ‘travesty’.
Clayborn’s daughter Sienna, 27, was one of the 14 gunned down by Farook, 29, and his Pakistani wife Tashfeen Malik, 30, at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino on December 2 2015.
Fighting back tears, he said: ‘Why is this man [Marquez] not being charged with murder? If he had not purchased those weapons, we would not be here.
He added: He should get life without parole. A whole life. He’s going to get a slap on the wrist. I can’t get my head around it.
‘Travesty’: Gregory Claybourn, who lost his daughter Sierra, spoke in court to ask why Marquez was not being jailed for life and outside said: ‘It’s a travesty and the judicial system needs to fix it.’
‘Those 22 people who were injured – their lives will never be the same. My life will never be the same. Your Honor, please give us closure.’
Outside court, fighting back tears, he added: ‘Why is this man [Marquez] not being charged with murder? If he had not purchased those weapons, we would not be here.
He added: ‘He should get life without parole. A whole life. He’s going to get a slap on the wrist. I can’t get my head around it.’
Speaking outside court after the hearing concluded, Claybourn described the 25-year maximum sentence as ‘a travesty’ and complained that ‘criminals have more rights than we do’.
He added: ‘Being surprised like this, with what happened, and this guy not being charged with the actual murders, it just made me angry. It really made me angry.
‘It just broke my heart because the thing is, if you’ve never been in this position, if you’ve never had your child taken from you by such callous people, you begin to include all folks who are working, seemingly thinking for that purpose….