The FBI was investigating possible links between the man and the LA Pride event, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said in a statement.
Seabrooks also said there was no known connection between Howell's arrest and the shooting rampage early Sunday morning at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida.Įarlier in the day police in California found weapons, ammunition and bomb-making materials in a car belonging to the man.
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, speaking at the opening of the LA Pride Festival in West Hollywood said separately that the man told police he was on his way to the parade there.īut Garcetti said the arrest appeared unrelated to Sunday's Florida attack. Seabrooks said the man told a Santa Monica police officer during his arrest 'of wanting to harm (the) Gay Pride event.' Santa Monica Police Chief Jacqueline Seabrooks said on her official Twitter account the California suspect, identified as James Howell of Indiana, had been arrested on suspicion of possessing weapons and explosive materials.įBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said the suspect was 20 years of age. A heavily armed man who said he was heading to the parade was arrested early on Sunday in nearby Santa Monica, but there was no apparent link with the deadly mass shooting in Florida, authorities said.
