Local police apprehended a man armed with firearms and counterfeit passes near a Trump rally in Coachella Valley, according to Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco.
The suspect, Vem Miller, was stopped about a mile from the rally venue carrying a fake entry pass. Police found him in possession of a loaded shotgun, a handgun, and a high-capacity magazine. “We probably stopped another assassination attempt,” Sheriff Bianco told the Riverside Press-Enterprise.
Miller was intercepted at a checkpoint approximately half a mile from the rally entrance, where officers became suspicious of his counterfeit press and VIP passes. “They were different enough to cause the deputies alarm,” Bianco said.
Authorities believe Miller is associated with a right-wing anti-government group and had been planning to assassinate Trump. Miller, who holds a master’s degree from UCLA and ran for Nevada State Assembly in 2022, was arrested and charged with possession of loaded firearms and a high-capacity magazine. He was later released on $5,000 bail, according to police records.
UPDATE: A source close to the Trump campaign denied any assassination attempt on President Trump, refuting earlier reports. According to the source, Vem Miller, who was stopped near a Coachella rally, had firearms in his vehicle but was not plotting to harm Trump.
“There was no assassination attempt in California yesterday,” the source told The Daily Mail. “A man at a perimeter checkpoint had a gun, but there was no incident.”
The Gateway Pundit reviewed Miller’s Instagram account, which showed that he had attended several pro-Trump events, including the Republican National Convention, where he was seen with figures like Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and James O’Keefe. In a video posted to his account, Miller was seen standing within a foot of Donald Trump Jr. at the RNC earlier this summer.
According to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office Miller’s vehicle had counterfeit plates, and was unregistered. The license plates also appeared to be homemade and indicative of a group of individuals that claim to be sovereign citizens. The deputy assumes Miller was part of that identifying group. Multiple passports and drivers licenses in multiple names were also found inside his vehicle.
