Officials say they have a California man in custody after being found with an arsenal of weapons, ammunition, and a racially driven manifesto claiming to want to wipe out the Black, Hispanic, and Jewish population.
Wesley Charles Martines, 32, of Los Gatos, California, was stopped by officers in the Northern California town of Campbell on July 9 after authorities were responding to reports of an individual lurking in the area looking inside of vehicles and a storage shed.
The call came from local business owner Farukh Mamedov a little after midnight. Mamedov says he saw the incident from his security camera. “So the guy came in, he lifted up the cover off the car, and then he went out back and started searching for things, he’s kind of just prowling around,” he added.
Martines, who is white, was in his truck when responding officers from the Campbell Police Department stopped him. In the vehicle, police found two AR-style rifles, and other weapons, including in an inactive pipe bomb filled with pellets, a Glock 9mm handgun, and bullets inscribed with phrases such as “Cop Killer,” “To a widow, from the Grim Reaper,” and “A Good Start,” according to a statement from the Santa Clara District Attorney’s Office. Assault-style weapons have been banned in California since 1989.
Police also found body armor, heroin, meth in the truck. Martines’ journal, written in his own handwriting, also found writing with racist and anti-Semitic writing describing plans to “go to sporting goods store, dress up as an employee and tie everybody up,” authorities said.
Campbell Police Capt. Ian White said in a CNN interview that Martines “tried to rationalize everything, insisting there was no ill-intent.” He later added, “We definitely feel a crisis was averted,” before revealing there may have been a plan to target a local business. He noted “a significant threat to the public” but says officials are working on a motive.
Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen thanked officials for their efforts in a statement stating, “Once again, law enforcement saved lives before the blood and tears flowed.” He added, “All of us have a role in stopping the next mass shooting, suicide, or domestic violence murder. Please call law enforcement if you know that someone is armed and dangerous.”
Martines was arraigned on July 13, according to the district attorney’s statement. He is charged with possession of assault weapons, multiple silencers, drugs, and the makings of a pipe bomb. He’s being held on $300,000 bond.
