A man armed with guns and explosives was busted on his way to a gay-pride parade in Southern California Sunday, hours after the Orlando massacre.
James Howell, 20, of Indiana was caught in Santa Monica, seven miles from the LA Pride festival site in West Hollywood, police said.
He was arrested at around 5 a.m. West Coast time after someone called police to report a man loitering and knocking on a door in their residential neighborhood, officials said.
He allegedly told cops he was hanging out in Santa Monica before heading to meet a friend at the parade, which was to start later Sunday.
A search of his white Acura sedan turned up five pounds of tannerite — an active ingredient for a pipe bomb — three rifles, a camouflage outfit and a security guard’s badge, authorities said.
Santa Monica Police Chief Jacqueline Seabrooks initially posted a tweet saying Howell told cops he wanted to “harm” the parade, but she took it down.
Another official in Santa Monica told the Los Angeles Times that the tweet was inaccurate, because Howell said he was going to the parade but did not elaborate on his intentions.
Officials said there did not appear to be a link between Howell and Omar Mateen, the ISIS-linked gunman in who went on a deadly rampage at Orlando’s Pulse club about three hours earlier.
Howell’s Facebook page says he lives in Jeffersonville and works for an air-filtration company, the LA Times reported. In online posts, he compared Hillary Clinton to Adolf Hilter.
West Hollywood officials considered canceling the parade but went ahead with extra security.
“My heart is bursting with #pride that, in the face of threats of violence, my community took to the streets & stood in solidarity with #Orlando,” West Hollywood Councilwoman Lindsey Horvath tweeted.
Security was also added Sunday to Philadelphia’s pride parade, where marchers paid tribute to the Orlando victims.
“It’s scary,” Haden Reed, who works at an LGBT bookstore, told the local NBC TV affiliate.
“I had been thinking of moving to Florida, actually to the Orlando area. It’s just so senseless and violent. Terrible.”
With Post Wire Services