The armed man arrested Saturday afternoon outside Donald Trump’s Coachella, California, rally denounced claims that he could have been attempting a third assassination and described himself as a Trump supporter.
Breitbart News reported that the 49-year-old Vem Miller of Las Vegas was arrested at a checkpoint with a shotgun and handgun in his possession, at least one of which was loaded. He also had a “high capacity” magazine.
FOX LA, citing Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, noted that Miller had multiple driver’s licenses and “was also in possession of multiple passports with different names.”
The man was taken into custody for possessing a loaded firearm and for possessing a magazine with higher capacity than legal in California, which is the most stringently gun-controlled state in the Union.
However, at this point, the only charges Miller has faced are state-level firearm-related charges.
The Los Angeles Times pointed out that Miller “was booked at the John J. Benoit Detention Center in Indio on suspicion of possessing loaded firearms” after his arrest and “has since been released on bail pending a court appearance.”
Following Miller’s arrest, Sheriff Bianco suggested his deputies’ apprehension of Miller “probably stopped another assassination attempt.”
Miller says he plans to file a lawsuit over that alleged insinuation. He told the Times he once supported Obama but became “disillusioned” and now supports Trump.
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio, a member of Gun Owners of America, a Pulsar Night Vision pro-staffer, and the director of global marketing for Lone Star Hunts. He was a Visiting Fellow at the Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal in 2010 and has a Ph.D. in Military History. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly: awrhawkins@breitbart.com.