RIVERSIDE COUNTY, CA — An armed Las Vegas man arrested outside former president Donald Trump’s Saturday rally in the Coachella Valley likely intended to kill the Republican presidential nominee, Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco said Sunday.
Vem Miller, 49, had a shotgun, a loaded handgun, a high-capacity magazine and multiple boxes of ammunition when Riverside County sheriff’s deputies made contact with him, police said. The guns were unregistered and he was taken into custody and later booked into county jail for possessing a loaded gun and high-capacity magazine, according to police.
Riverside County authorities are working with the Secret Service and FBI, and any additional charges will come from the federal government, according to Bianco.
““I truly do believe that we prevented another assassination attempt,” Bianco said at a press conference Sunday.
Miller was intercepted by deputies when he reached the inner perimeter of the event after clearing the outer perimeter, according to Bianco, who noted this occurred before Trump’s arrival. His vehicle was unregistered and in disarray with an “obviously fake license plate,” and it contained multiple passports and driver’s licenses under multiple names, Bianco said.
A member of the media in attendance at Bianco’s press conference Sunday said his outlet had spoken to Miller and Miller denied planning an assassination, but Bianco maintained that he believed his agency stopped an assassination attempt.
“There is absolutely no way that any of us are going to truly know what was in his head,” Bianco said, later adding, “I probably did have deputies that prevented the third assassination attempt.”
Miller was driving a black SUV at a checkpoint at Avenue 52 and Celebration drive when deputies assigned to the rally made contact with him just before 5 p.m. Saturday, according to police, who said the incident did not affect Trump’s safety or the safety of event attendees. He claimed to be a journalist with VIP status, Bianco said.
Miller ran as a Republican in 2022 for Nevada Assembly District 13, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. He also identified as a sovereigns citizen, Bianco said, a far right group that doesn’t believe in government control.
“I couldn’t care less what political party he belongs to, I honestly, I think that’s the stupidest thing in the world that we have to label something and we’re labeling this as politics,” the sheriff said. “He was a lunatic.”
Miller told the Review-Journal in 2022 that he was running for office because “this country has been taken over by tyranny.” He also told the newspaper if elected his priority would be stopping voter fraud by auditing rolls, passing stronger ID laws, and using paper ballots. At the time he was a plaintiff in a lawsuit claiming he was not allowed to properly observe polls, the Review-Journal reported.
His LinkedIn profile states he is a partner at The America Happens Network, which has the slogan “Rage Against the Mainstream Media.” In his LinkedIn biography, he expresses displeasure about big government, “unlawful mandates” and “politicians acting like dictators.”
Miller was released Saturday on $5,000 bail, and was scheduled to appear at the Indio Larson Justice Center on Jan. 2, according to the department’s inmate database.
“The U.S. Secret Service assesses that the incident did not impact protective operations and former President Trump was not in any danger,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a statement Sunday. “While no federal arrest has been made at this time, the investigation is ongoing.”
Bianco said the FBI was questioning another man after bomb-detecting dogs identified him as possibly dangerous and denied him access to the rally.
Anyone with additional information about the suspect was encouraged to contact Deputy Coronado at 760-836-1600.
Trump had not commented on the arrest as of Sunday.
“A beautiful evening in Coachella, California last night. Thank you!” the former president posted on X, along with a video of the crowd at the rally.
Trump was shot in the ear at a rally in Butler, Penn., on July 13 by a man who was subsequently shot dead by authorities. On Sept. 22, a man was arrested after the Secret Service allegedly saw him pointing a rifle from shrubbery on the West Palm Beach, Fla., golf course where Trump was playing.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
City News Service and the Associated Press contributed to this story.