A California man was recently arrested and charged after police found him in possession of an "arsenal" of assault-style weapons and a "racist manifesto."
According to a press release from the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office, the man was identified as Wesley Charles Martines, 32, of Los Gatos, Calif.
Martines was arrested by officers from the Campbell Police Department on July 9 after a business owner reported seeing Martines "prowling in the area of East Sunny Oaks Avenue and looking into cars and a storage shed," on his security camera.
The district attorney's office said that police responded to the scene immediately after the call and were able to stop Martines while he was driving a truck away from the scene.
When officers stopped Martines' truck and conducted a search of the vehicle, they found two AR-style rifles, a Glock 9 mm handgun and ammunition. According to the press release, the ammunition found in Martines' truck was "personally inscribed" with sayings including "Cop Killer," "To a widow from the Grim Reaper," and "A Good Start."
Police also discovered Martines in possession of body armor, heroin, methamphetamine and a pipe bomb that contained pellets but no explosive material.
"The Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office Bomb Squad assisted in making sure the explosive device was inactive," the press release said.
Additionally, while searching Martines' vehicle, police discovered a "racist" handwritten manifesto where he wrote about wanting "to wipe out the Black, Hispanic, and Jewish populations."
"A journal held the racist and Anti-Semitic writings, along with a plan to go to sporting goods store, dress up as an employee and tie everybody up," the Santa Clara District Attorney's Office said in the press release.
The Campbell Police Department posted a tweet on Thursday showing several photos of the weapons and armor discovered in Martines' vehicle.
On July 9th, officers arrested Wesley Martines 32yrs, of Los Gatos, with assault weapons and what was believed to be an improvised explosive device. @SCCoSheriff bomb squad responded to assist. See @SantaClaraDA press release for additional information.https://t.co/ByGH83PxkT pic.twitter.com/Kg5AtI5WwL
— Campbell Police (@CampbellPolice) July 15, 2021
Campbell Police Public Information Officer Ian White told Newsweek that, "obviously there's still a lot of questions related to potential motivations or potential targets.
"We're hoping over the next weeks or months we'll have a better idea of exactly what the intent of this person was but obviously our feeling is that when you have that type of an arsenal and there's clear indicators that you intend on targeting something, we feel that our officers did a great job in preventing in what was potentially a mass assault on people," White continued.
The Santa Clara District Attorney's Office said that the Campbell Police Department obtained a high bail, search warrants and served a gun violence restraining order in order to seize Martines' weapons.
In a statement, Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen said, "Once again, law enforcement saved lives before the blood and tears flowed."
"All of us have a role in stopping the next mass shooting, suicide, or domestic violence murder," Rosen continued. "Please call law enforcement if you know that someone is armed and dangerous."
According to the press release, Martines was charged with "possession of assault weapons, multiple silencers, drugs, and the makings of a pipe bomb."
Martines was arraigned in court on Tuesday and the judge "remanded him on $300,000 bail."
The Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office directed Newsweek to the press release after reaching out for comment.
Updated July 15, 2021, 4:37 p.m. ET, to include a comment from the Campbell Police Department.
