Armed man going to California gay pride event gets 7 years

LOS ANGELES – An Indiana man who told police he was headed to a California gay pride event when he was found with a loaded rifle and explosives in his car has been sentenced to more than seven years in prison.

The Los Angeles County district attorney’s office says Thursday that James Wesley Howell pleaded no contest to weapons and explosives charges.

Police said the Charlestown, Indiana, man was stopped in Santa Monica in July 2016 with a loaded AR-15 rifle and magazines rigged to allow shots to be fired in quick succession. Investigators said Howell also had 15 pounds of chemicals mixed and ready to explode.

He told police he was headed to a gay pride event in West Hollywood, hours after 49 people were killed at the Pulse nightclub in Florida.