A woman pays her respects at a makeshift memorial near the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino, Calif., on Dec. 6, 2015. Friday, California Gov. Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency for San Bernardino so the community is eligible to receive state financial and social assistance to aid in its recovery following the terrorist attack on Dec. 2 that killed 14 and injured 26. Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI |
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SACRAMENTO, Dec. 18 (UPI) -- California Gov. Jerry Brown on Friday declared a state of emergency in San Bernardino to assist in the community's recovery following this month's terror attack that left more than a dozen people dead.
Brown's declaration makes available state relief for the Southern California city of nearly 210,000, which is less than three weeks removed from the mass shooting at the Inland Regional social services center -- now considered the deadliest terror attack on U.S. soil since 9/11.
"The circumstances of this terrorist attack, by reason of its magnitude, are or are likely to be beyond the control of the services, personnel, equipment and facilities of any single local government and require the combined forces of all appropriate mutual aid," Brown said in his declaration.
Though the mass shooting occurred more than two weeks ago, Brown said the social and financial impact of the attack remains -- and is likely to for some time.
"Under the provisions of [California law], I find that conditions of disaster and extreme peril to the safety of persons and property exist in San Bernardino County due to this attack," the declaration continued.
Authorities have said Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik, a husband and wife who lived in the area, orchestrated the attack after becoming self-radicalized jihadists. A trail of computer and Internet evidence, they say, indicates that they were terrorist sympathizers and pledged their allegiance to the Islamic State.
Farook was employed by the city and attended a holiday party at the Inland Regional Center before he left, picked up his Pakistani wife and returned to begin the attack, investigators said. Fourteen people died and 26 were wounded, according to officials.
President Barack Obama was scheduled to visit with family members of the victims Friday night while en route to Hawaii for holiday vacation.
Because the communities in San Bernardino County are dealing with extraordinary circumstances, Brown said, extraordinary measures -- such as those allowed under emergency conditions -- are necessary.
"Strict compliance with the various statutes specified in this proclamation would prevent, hinder, or delay the mitigation of the effects of the terrorist attack in San Bernardino County," the proclamation states.
As part of the emergency declaration, which was certified by California Secretary of State Alex Padilla, Brown ordered the following:
- That the California Department of Public Health assist the San Bernardino County Division of Environmental Health Services until the local government can resume normal staffing levels.
- That the California Office of Emergency Services provide local government assistance to San Bernardino County under the California Disaster Assistance Act.
- The suspension of normal fees associated with disposing human remains or issuing death records for relatives of the San Bernardino victims.
