A Las Vegas man was arrested on Saturday at a checkpoint near former President Donald Trump’s Coachella, California, rally after being found with multiple guns, according to law enforcement officials.
In a press release on Sunday, the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office revealed that Vem Miller, 49, “was found to be illegally in possession of a shotgun, a loaded handgun, and a high-capacity magazine.”
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Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco told the Press-Telegram that “Miller presented fake VIP and press passes at the checkpoint.”
“We probably stopped another assassination attempt,” Bianco said.
After deputies who had been assigned to Trump’s Coachella came into contact with Miller, who was in a “black SUV at a checkpoint” near the rally, they discovered that he was reportedly illegally in possession of several handguns and was “taken into custody without incident,” according to the press release.
Miller was “later booked at the John J. Benoit Detention Center for possession of a loaded firearm and possession of a high-capacity magazine,” according to the press release.
Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco told the Press-Telegram that “Miller presented fake VIP and press passes at the checkpoint.”
Fox News’s Bill Melugin said Sunday, “Sources close to the Trump campaign tell Fox News there was no assassination attempt against Trump at his Coachella, CA rally yesterday. We’re told a man with a gun was arrested at the perimeter of the event without incident.”
Trump faced a first assassination attempt at his Butler, Pennsylvania rally on July 13, 2024, when Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire from the rooftop of a nearby building where he had a direct line of sight of Trump. The former president was shot by a “bullet that pierced the upper part” of his right ear.
On September 15, 2024, Ryan Wesley Routh was apprehended after U.S. Secret Service agents saw the barrel of his AK-style rifle where he was hiding in the bushes near Trump International Golf Course West Palm Beach where Trump had been playing golf.