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First Court Appearance Scheduled For Suspect Allegedly Found With Weapons, Explosive Materials

SANTA MONICA (CBSLA/AP) — A man police say was found with several weapons, ammunition and bomb-making materials is scheduled to make his first court appearance Tuesday.

James Wesley Howell, 20, of Indiana, was arrested about 5 a.m. Sunday on 11th Street south of Olympic Boulevard, Santa Monica Police Department Chief Jacqueline Seabrooks said. Howell was arrested just hours after a gunman killed 49 people at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Fla. and just before the LA Pride parade was set to begin in West Hollywood.

Howell, who was booked on weapons and explosive materials charges, was being held on $500,000 bail and is scheduled to make his first court appearance at LAX Superior Court Tuesday, according to jail records.

Howell told police he was planning to attend the event.

"He did not make any additional statement saying he was going to do anything further than" attending the event, Santa Monica police Lt. Saul Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez and Seabrooks say there was no known connection between Howell and the mass shooting in Orlando.

Howell's white Acura had Indiana license plates and was found about seven miles from the site of the LA Pride parade. According to Santa Monica police, officers recovered three assault rifles, along with high-capacity magazines and ammunition, along with a "5-gallon bucket with chemicals capable of forming an improved explosive device."

Sheriff's officials in West Hollywood also said the suspect did not appear to have any connection with a gunman -- an apparent ISIS terrorist -- who killed 50 people and wounded at least 53 others overnight at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida. But with the nation still shaken by the worst mass shooting in U.S. history, news of the arrest in Santa Monica raised additional concerns about safety at the West Hollywood event, where security was dramatically stepped up.

The suspect's car "was full of weapons, long rifles, ammunition and explosive materials -- not explosives but the powder for explosives," Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti told KNX Newsradio.

The FBI is leading the investigation.

A Facebook page that apparently is Howell's includes photos of the white Acura he was driving in Santa Monica. The postings are unremarkable. There's no enmity toward gays or notable political activism. One post says he's signing a petition to legalize marijuana.

The page's most recent public post, from June 3, shows a photo comparing an Adolf Hitler quote to one from Hillary Clinton. An anti-Clinton, pro-Bernie Sanders photo was posted in February.

The site said Howell worked as an auditor for a company that makes air filters.

Howell was charged in October in Clark County, Indiana, with pointing a firearm at someone, and with intimidation. He made a deal with prosecutors in April to plead guilty only to the misdemeanor intimidation charge. He was given one-year prison sentence that the judge suspended in favor of strict probation that prohibited him from having weapons.

A friend of Howell's, 18-year-old Joseph Greeson, said Howell's parents in Jeffersonville hadn't seen him for days and that they called Greeson's parents looking for him. Greeson told the Los Angeles Times that he and Howell are in a car club together and that Howell had a gun collection.

(TM and © Copyright 2016 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2016 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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