Arrest of Armed Individual Heading to LGBTQ Parade in Los Angeles

U.S. officials report the arrest of an armed man in Southern California who was allegedly heading to the annual LGBTQ parade in Los Angeles with three assault rifles and chemicals necessary for making a bomb. According to a report on Monday (June 14), the arrested individual is named 'James Wesley Howell,' a 20-year-old from Indiana. Media reports indicate that California police responded to calls from residents reporting a person parked in a sedan facing the wrong direction on a street and arrested him. Police found weapons, ammunition, and five gallons of chemicals inside the vehicle that could be used to create explosive devices. James Wesley Howell told police he was on his way to the LGBTQ parade in Los Angeles, an event that attracts hundreds of thousands of participants every year. Officials have refrained from providing further details and the motive behind Howell's actions. The FBI is leading the investigation in collaboration with local police. This arrest, which took place on Sunday morning in Santa Monica, occurred shortly after a deadly shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, which left at least 50 dead and over 53 injured. The shooter, Omar Mateen, an American citizen of Afghan descent, is reported to have carried out the deadliest individual terrorist attack in U.S. history. NBC News states that the Orlando shooter pledged allegiance to the Islamic State and its leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, during a call to 911 before the shooting. The 29-year-old Omar Mateen, who was killed three hours after the attack during a police intervention, was born in 1986 in New York City to Afghan parents. The organization hosting the annual LGBTQ parade in Los Angeles issued a statement expressing sorrow over the Orlando nightclub massacre, announcing that this year's event would be held under heightened security measures. The statement added that this year's parade would be held in honor and memory of lost sisters, brothers, and allies.