June 16--REPORTING FROM PHOENIX -- A Phoenix man has been accused of supplying guns and training to the two men who fired on a provocative Garland, Texas, cartoon contest featuring depictions of the prophet Muhammad, an attack that wounded a security guard and left both assailants dead.
In the indictment made public on Tuesday, Abdul Malik Abdul Kareem faces charges of conspiracy, transport of weapons across state lines and giving false statements to investigators.
According to the indictment, Kareem, along with an unknown number of people, traveled to the desert outside Phoenix to help roommates Nadir Soofi, 34, and Elton Simpson, 30, practice with firearms, including assault rifles.
Soofi and Simpson were shot dead by police outside a heavily guarded conference center filled with 200 people in Garland.
When questioned by investigators, Kareem denied knowledge of the firearms and training, according to the indictment, which was filed under seal on June 10.
The indictment mentions on multiple occasions people "known ... to the grand jury" joined Soofi and Simpson in the desert, but does not identify the nature of their contact with the shooters or Kareem.
Simpson was previously convicted of lying to federal agents in a terrorism-related investigation.
Federal law enforcement officials had put Simpson on a watch list in recent months after he posted comments online expressing interest in Islamic "holy war." Information about Simpson was developed about three hours before the contest, which the FBI had identified as a potential target for Islamic militant violence because it involved cartoons depicting the prophet Muhammad.
Mainstream Islamic tradition dictates that physical depictions of Muhammad are blasphemous.
Soofi and Simpson attended the Islamic Community Center of Phoenix, about two miles from the apartment officials said they moved in together in northwest Phoenix.
