Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said Sunday afternoon, that the city's "hearts will be heavy but our resolve will be strong" after a authorities in nearby Santa Monica found explosives, weapons, and ammunition in the car of a man who said he was heading to a Gay Pride parade being held in Los Angeles.
"As we march in the streets today under gray skies and as we take a moment of silence to grieve together before the parade begins, our hearts will be heavy but our resolve will be strong," Garcetti said in a press conference. "Public safety is our number one priority and the city of West Hollywood is on heightened alert and is working very closely with the Los Angeles County sheriff's department, the L.A. County Fire Department, the Los Angeles police department, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
At about 5 a.m. Sunday, Santa Monica police got a call about a prowler, and found a man who said he was waiting for a friend, reports The Los Angeles Times. Officers inspected his car, which had Indiana plates and found the weapons and ammunition along with Tannerite, which is used in pipe bombs."
A source told The Times that officials do not believe the arrest was connected with the deadly shootings in Orlando, Florida, where at least 50 people were massacred in an early morning shooting at the Pulse, a popular gay nightclub.
Garcetti, meanwhile, pledged solidarity with the LGBTQ community.
"We all wanted to be here this morning but we did not want to be here under these circumstances," he said. "Our hearts are with Orlando. We are Pulse, we are Orlando, we are Americans. We are all LGBTQ members today. We are all part of a country that won't be beaten down."
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Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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