by Susan Crabtree
The US Secret Service and the FBI are downplaying the threat to former President Donald Trump posed by a man arrested ahead of Saturday’s rally in California – despite assurances from a local sheriff that his arrest likely thwarted a third assassination attempt.
Riverside County Sheriff’s Office deputies arrested the man, identified as Vem Miller, and later found a shotgun, a loaded handgun and a high-capacity magazine in his car about a quarter-mile from the entrance to a Trump campaign rally in the Coachella Valley. Riverside Sheriff Chad Bianco, who publicly endorsed Trump in June, said Miller’s car, identified as a black SUV, had a bogus unregistered license plate and several bogus passports and driver’s licenses with different identities, as well as what Bianco described as a bogus press pass .
Authorities released Miller after his arrest. On Sunday, Miller told local news outlets that he had no intention of hurting Trump and that he was the captain of the Trump club, which received a special invitation to the Coachella Valley rally from the chairman of the Clark County Republican Party in Nevada. Wearing a Trump shirt and hat, the 49-year-old Las Vegas resident testified that at the checkpoint he willingly revealed that he was legally carrying a firearm in his trunk.
Miller told the Southern California News Group that he purchased the gun in 2022 for self-defense after receiving death threats and that he was unaware of the differences between gun laws in Nevada and California. Miller is reportedly a registered Republican with a master’s degree from the University of California, Los Angeles, who ran for state assembly in Nevada in 2022 and lost in the primary.
During his run for state office, Miller told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that he entered the race because “this country has been taken over by tyranny.” He said he supports solar power and more electric car production, but is also concerned about election security and wants to strengthen voter ID laws and bring back paper ballots. He also runs America Hapens Networkwhich features several podcasts, including “Conspiracy Truths with Mindy Robinson.” Miller hosts a podcast called “Blood Money,” which focuses on “issues of corruption, controversy and conspiracies – topics that are not covered by the mainstream media,” according to podcast website.
“These accusations are complete bullshit,” Miller said. “I am an artist. I am the last person who would cause any violence or harm to anyone.
Bianco told reporters at a news conference tardy Sunday afternoon that he believed Miller was a member of a right-wing anti-government group known to law enforcement as “Sovereign Citizens” and planning to kill Trump at the rally. Members of this group, Bianco asserted, believe that “government rules and laws and everything else that comes with them do not apply to them.”
Miller was arrested after attempting to pass through the Riverside sheriff’s inner perimeter checkpoint after passing through a less stringent checkpoint on the outer perimeter. Bianco said Miller identified himself as a journalist who was supposed to be there. Bianco said officers noticed suspicious signs and noticed the interior of the car was “in disarray” and the SUV had a false license plate.
The same officers later found firearms and bogus passports in the SUV.
“He showed up with multiple passports in different names and an unregistered vehicle with false license plates and a loaded firearm,” Bianco told reporters on Sunday. “If you ask me now, I probably had deputies who prevented the third assassination attempt.”
When reporters pressed him on whether he was being dramatic, Bianco bristled.
“Will I be accused of being dramatic?” – he replied, giving details of Miller’s arrest. “We have a serious, serious problem in this country because this is common sense and common sense.”
Despite Bianco’s assurances, the Secret Service, the local U.S. attorney’s office and the FBI fired joint statement On Sunday afternoon, it noted that “the incident had no impact on security efforts 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 read. “The U.S. Attorney’s Office, the U.S. Secret Service and the FBI express their gratitude to the deputies and local partners who helped ensure the safety of last night’s events.”
Eight hours after his arrest, Miller said he was allowed to call a lawyer and relayed his experience over the phone in the presence of an FBI agent and a Secret Service member who was there to question him. However, it appears that the Secret Service has canceled the hearing.
Bianco noted that family members were present at the rally, but he never feared for his safety because of the vigilance of his deputies.
“I was absolutely certain that nothing would happen in this facility,” he said. “I am extremely proud of what the MPs did and the support, the personal support, that they took it upon themselves to ensure the safety of our former president and the participants of this rally.”
Bianco then added, “We know we stopped something bad from happening and it doesn’t matter what it is.”
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Susan Crabtree is a national political correspondent for RealClearPolitics.
Photo “Member of the Secret Service” by Interview.