LOS ANGELES- An Indiana man bound for the L.A. Pride festival in a auto loaded with weapons, ammunition and explosive chemicals was formally charged Tuesday.
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Frightening details emerged as James Wesley Howell, 20, pleaded not guilty in the Airport courthouse to charges that could send him to prison for almost 10 years.
James Wesley Howell was charged Tuesday in Los Angeles County with possessing an assault weapon, a high-capacity magazine and explosives on a public highway. He was also charged with one misdemeanor count of carrying a loaded firearm in a vehicle.
James Howell is now being held on a $500,000 bail bond and is scheduled to appear in court on Tuesday. The two components needed to make it explosive had been mixed. “He’s now being held on weapons & explosives charges”. Rounds were loaded in the chamber. The third gun was a.22-caliber Ruger semi-automatic rifle. Among the three rifles, for instance, was an AM-15.223 caliber rifle.
The detective also stated that inside Howell’s Acura was a black hood that “could have been used to hide the defendant’s face”, along with a Taser, handcuffs, a buck knife, a security badge, and additional ammunition for the rifles. There was also a five-gallon container of gasoline.
Howell’s arrest attracted national attention because it occurred Sunday, the morning after a gunman burst into a gay nightclub in Orlando, killing 49 before he was shot to death by police.
He was detained after a resident reported a prowler knocking on their door and window around 5:00 am.
Police in Clark County, Ind. confirm that Howell is also the subject of a sexual assault investigation.
Although Howell’s arrest triggered a local panic when Santa Monica Police Chief Jacqueline Seabrooks mistakenly tweeted that Howell meant to “harm” the L.A. Pride festival in nearby West Hollywood, authorities later determined that this was not the case.
What he was doing with the chemicals remained unknown.
Howell’s defense argued there was not evidence that showed he had any intent to detonate the chemicals or weapons. Some of the materials were already mixed in a bucket in the auto, the prosecutor said.
In court documents released Tuesday, Santa Monica police Detective Derek Leone said Howell had a three-fifths-full 25-pound container of Shoc-Shot, a commercially available “binary explosive”, on the front passenger floorboard. The case, however, remained at the local level. Although he was sentenced to a year in state prison, Howell’s sentence was suspended because he agreed to forfeit all weapons at his disposal. His most recent arrest came in October 2015 when he was accused of intimidation and pointing a firearm at another person.
Howell does have a history of gun violence. He was placed on probation for a year. The first incident involved Howells then-boyfriend and the second a neighbor, identified in police records as Jeremy Hebert.
Joseph Greeson, 18, a friend of Howell’s and a fellow vehicle club member, said Howell didn’t harbor any ill will toward gays or lesbians and that he is bisexual, The Times reported. Police later said, however, that Howell had not voice any threats toward the L.A. Pride festival that he said he would attend.
Leone wrote in his affidavit that Howell made statements following his arrest in Santa Monica that he had left in because of concerns over existing or pending criminal charges.
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Leone called Howell was a flight risk, saying the defendant had driven from IN to California, where he has no known ties.
