A man was arrested at a security checkpoint near Donald Trump’s California rally on Saturday, weeks after former US President and current Republican presidential candidate faced a second assassination attempt this year.
The accused now faces gun charges after he was found in possession of loaded firearms, multiple passports and a fake licence plate, the local sheriff said on Sunday. Trump’s rally on Saturday took place in the Coachella Valley, an area known for its annual music and arts festival.
Third assassination attempt?
“On Saturday, October 12, 2024, at 4:59 p.m., deputies assigned to former President Donald Trump’s rally in the Coachella Valley contacted the driver of a black SUV at a checkpoint at the intersection of Avenue 52 and Celebration Drive,” the police said in a statement.
Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco said he believed his department halted an assassination attempt, though he acknowledged that was “speculation.” The suspect was released on bail on Saturday, jail records showed. A federal official said on Sunday that a federal investigation was underway.
’49-year-old man’
“What we do know is he showed up with multiple passports with different names, an unregistered vehicle with a fake licence plate and loaded firearms,” the sheriff said at a news conference on Sunday afternoon. “I truly do believe that we prevented another assassination attempt.”
The 49-year-old man, identified as Las Vegas resident Vem Miller, was stopped in a black SUV by sheriff’s deputies around 5 p.m. local time on Saturday and taken into custody without incident, according to the sheriff’s office. Trump had not yet taken the stage.
Jail records show Miller was released on $5,000 bail on Saturday after being charged with possession of a loaded firearm and a high-capacity magazine, both misdemeanors. He could not immediately be reached for comment on Sunday. “The incident did not impact the safety of former President Trump or attendees of the event,” the sheriff’s office said in a press release.
‘Trump was not in danger’
The US Attorney’s Los Angeles office, in a statement on its web site on Sunday, also said Trump was not in danger, citing the U.S. Secret Service. The statement added that while no federal arrest had been made, an investigation was ongoing.
Trump narrowly survived an assassination attempt in July, when a gunman’s bullet grazed his ear during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. In September, another man was charged with trying to assassinate Trump after Secret Service agents discovered him hiding with a rifle near Trump’s Palm Beach golf course. He pleaded not guilty. Those attempts raised questions about Secret Service security planning and response.
(With agency inputs)
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