By Michael Wilner
Merced Sun-Star (Merced, Calif.)
RIVERSIDE COUNTY, Calif. — Local law enforcement in California said they arrested a man attempting to enter former President Donald Trump’s rally on Saturday in Coachella Valley with multiple passports and ID cards with different identities, weapons and a vehicle with fake license plates.
The Riverside County sheriff, Chad Bianco, identified the individual as Vem Miller, 49, while noting that he claimed multiple identities based off the documents in his possession. Miller was charged with possessing a loaded weapon and a large capacity magazine — both misdemeanors — and was released.
According to Bianco, deputies stopped Miller after he first passed through an outer security perimeter set up by local law enforcement, claiming that he had press credentials and VIP access. Upon closer inspection at an inner security perimeter, deputies found that Miller’s vehicle was in “disarray,” was unregistered and had fake license plates. He was in possession of multiple fake passports and ID cards, as well as a shotgun and a loaded handgun, Bianco said.
At a press conference on Sunday, Bianco told reporters that he believes his team “prevented the third assassination attempt.”
Bianco addressed reporters by himself, without members of the FBI or U.S. Secret Service present. Shortly after, Secret Service Spokesman Anthony Guglielmi released a joint statement with the Secret Service and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles explaining that the incident “did not impact protective operations and former President Trump was not in any danger.”
“While no federal arrest has been made at this time, the investigation is ongoing,” the statement said.
Bianco said that any additional charges would come from federal authorities, if at all. He was unable to detail any potential motives of the suspect, but said “common sense” suggested Miller intended to kill the former president. Miller never interacted with Secret Service, Bianco said.
“If you’re asking me right now, I probably did have deputies that prevented the third assassination attempt,” he said.
While Bianco previously told local press that Miller was in possession of fake press and VIP passes for the event, he walked back those claims at the press conference.
“He claimed to be a journalist and claimed to have VIP status at the event that got him into the perimeter,” Bianco said. “I can’t tell you that he gave us a document that said I’m the media and we said that was fake.”
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