Police in California Arrest White Supremacist With Weapons Cache, Racist Manifesto

A white man in California was arrested last week after being found with an arsenal of weapons, ammo, and a manifesto saying he wanted to kill Black, Hispanic and Jewish people.

According to CNN, 32-year-old Wesley Charles Martines was arrested on July 9 after Campbell Police officers were notified about a man looking into vehicles and a storage shed. When the responding officers searched Martines’ truck they found an assault-style rifle, a handgun, ammo, and an inactive pipe bomb. A statement from the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office revealed authorities also found a journal filled with racist and anti-semitic rhetoric, and an allegedly detailed plan to “go to sporting goods store, dress up as an employee and tie everybody up.”

The DA also notes that some of the bullets had messages inscribed on them such as “To a widow from the Grim Reaper,” and “A Good Start.”

In true white man fashion, police say Martines was calm and cooperative on the scene and tried to explain why he wasn’t in the wrong. “He tried to rationalize everything, insisting there was no ill-intent,” Campbell Police Capt. Ian White told CNN. I wouldn’t be surprised if Martines pointed to a Blue Lives Matter sticker on his truck and was like “Hey guys, I’m on your side.”

“We definitely feel a crisis was averted,” White said. “There was a significant threat to the public.” White added that investigators are looking for the motive behind the arsenal. Not telling them how to do their jobs, but I think the journal outlining his plan and the violence he wanted to commit against Blacks, Hispanics, and Jewish people might just be the key to finding the motive.

Martines was arraigned on Tuesday and is currently being held on $300,000 bail. He’s been charged with possession of assault weapons, multiple silencers, drugs, and the materials to make a pipe bomb.

I’m simply glad this situation didn’t end in a far more tragic manner. White supremacists have been labeled the greatest threat to domestic safety by the FBI, and there’s been growing concerns that the easing of COVID restrictions will lead to a rise in extremist violence.