© Zahira Torres / Los Angeles TimesPolice confer Sunday around a white Acura, believed to be connected to the man who was arrested, on 11th Street in Santa Monica.
Federal and local law enforcement decided against canceling the annual parade, which went forward Sunday morning under tightened security. Investigators are now trying to piece together what happened but said they don't believe their is any connection between the incident and the massacre at a gay bar in Orlando that killed 50 people overnight.
Early Sunday, Santa Monica police received a call of a suspected prowler near Olympic Boulevard and 11th Street. Patrol officers responded and encountered an individual who told officers he was waiting for a friend. That led officers to inspect the car and find several weapons and a lot of ammunition as well as tannerite, an ingredient that could be used to create a pipe bomb.
The car had Indiana plates, and law enforcement sources said the man arrested was white.
Los Angeles County Sheriff's officials said the suspect told police he was going to the pride parade to look for a friend. Authorities are now looking for that individual.
Santa Monica Police spokesman Saul Rodriguez said detectives are "not aware of what the suspect's intentions were at this point."
Neighbors called police after he was spotted knocking on doors and "loitering in the area," Rodriguez said.
Santa Monica police continued to suspect's white Acura on Sunday morning. All four of the car's doors were open, and a green blanket, red gasoline canister and several other smaller items were being piled on the sidewalk next to it.
One source in West Hollywood said there was discussion of calling off the parade but that officials decided to go forward, with heavy security including undercover officers in the crowd.
The sources spoke to The Times on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly.
"They found him with weapons that were very disconcerting," said one source, adding officials are "taking the appropriate safety precautions."
The parade comes hours after the attack at the Orlando club that killed at least 50 people. At least 53 were injured in the deadliest shooting in modern American history after a gunman took hostages. The gunman, who was killed in a shootout with police, has been identified as 29-year-old Omar Mateen, a U.S. law enforcement official said.
West Hollywood City Councilwoman Lindsey Horvath said in a statement that Los Angeles County sheriff's officials are stepping up security efforts around Sunday's parade and other festivities. But she said officials do not believe there is any threat around Sunday's activities.
The parade began around 10:45 a.m. Usually a joyful affair, this event was colored by both the Orlando violence and the Santa Monica arrest.
Emma Samuels, 16, stood at Crescent Heights and Santa Monica Boulevard with a group of friends, wearing a rainbow tutu.
She had heard about what happened in Florida when her mother called her this morning, as soon as she arrived to the parade."She told me and said, 'I hope you're safe sweetie, I love you and let me know that you're ok,'" she said.Her friend Nicki Genco-Kamin, 18, stood with her, a No H8 temporary tattoo on his left cheek: "I feel like it's all the more reason to come out. That's trying to push us back. This is showing we're still here, we're still going to take a stand," he said.
The group said that a sense of worry was there, but stressed the importance of turning out."That's exactly why we're here, to be like 'I'm proud of who I am. I don't care if you hate me, I'm going to love myself,'" Samuels said."Life is short anyways," Genco-Kamin said. "Spend it being authentic to yourself."
© Joel Rubin / Los Angeles TimesAuthorities look over the suspect's car in Santa Monica.
A reporter for ProPublica tweeted out a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department bulletin detailing the arrest.
Bumbling buffoons! Oh of course not. What would the odds of that be?