Man headed for L.A. gay pride festival with arsenal described as 'young and dumb'

By Shawn Price   |   June 14, 2016

Police still don't know why James Wesley Howell, 20, drove all the way from Indiana to Los Angeles for the Pride event with assault rifles, ammo and a chemical used to make explosives in the trunk of his car. Photo by Santa Monica Police Department

LOS ANGELES, June 13 (UPI) -- The young man arrested by police Sunday as he was headed for the Los Angeles Pride festival with an arsenal in his trunk is only slightly less a mystery a day later, police said.


Santa Monica police are still trying to determine what James Wesley Howell, 20, of Indiana, intended to do with the three assault rifles, large amounts of ammunition and bucket full of tennerite, commonly used to make explosives he had in the back of Acura.

Police said they are certain he had no connection to the mass shooting in Orlando that killed 49 people and that Howell, who is bisexual, likely wasn't intending to harm anyone at the L.A. Pride festival. Beyond that, investigators are still not sure why he drove his car from Indiana loaded with weapons.


Howell's criminal record shows a young man with a hot temper and knack for intimidating people at the point of a gun.


"The boy was young and dumb and had a mouth on him," said Jeremy Hebert, a former Indiana neighbor once threatened by Howell at gunpoint, according to court documents.


Howell was charged in October 2015 with intimidation and felony pointing a firearm at another person. He also plead guilty on April 19 to misdemeanor intimidation, and prosecutors dropped the charge of pointing a firearm. He was sentenced to a year in state prison and given probation and had to forfeit all weapons during his term of probation.
On Sunday, Howell was arrested just before 5 a.m. after police received a call that a prowler was knocking on their door and window.


Howell told police he waiting for a friend. Upon inspection of the man's white Acura with Indiana plates, they found the small arsenal. He also told them he was in town for the pride event in West Hollywood over the weekend.


Santa Monica police booked him on suspicion of possessing an explosive device, possessing a loaded firearm in a vehicle and possessing high-capacity magazines. He remains in custody on $500,000 bond and according to jail records, he is scheduled to appear in court on Tuesday.


Investigators are working with the district attorney's office in Los Angeles and the United States attorney's office to determine "whether Mr. Howell will be charged at either the state or federal level in relation to the weapons and other items found in his vehicle," said FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller.