UPDATE: Sheriff reveals more details on man arrested with guns near Trump’s California rally

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From CBS News: Deputies assigned to former President Donald Trump’s rally in California’s Coachella Valley arrested a Las Vegas man Saturday at a checkpoint for allegedly having a loaded firearm, a shotgun and a high-capacity magazine.

The suspect, identified by deputies as 49-year-old Vem Miller of Las Vegas, Nevada, was pulled over in a black SUV at the intersection of Avenue 52 and Celebration Drive in Coachella before Trump arrived at the location for his rally, according to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office.

During a news conference on Sunday, Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, whose department assisted in security measures for the event, said that Miller’s car had an “obviously fake license plate” that prompted the department to investigate further.

In addition to the two unregistered, illegally-owned guns and the fake license plate on his vehicle, Bianco said Miller’s vehicle was not registered, and he had multiple passports and driver’s licenses with different names in the vehicle.

The Sheriff’s department first shared the following details in a press release on Sunday:

On Saturday, October 12, 2024, at 4:59 p.m., deputies assigned to former President Donald Trump’s rally in the Coachella Valley contacted the driver of a black SUV at a checkpoint at the intersection of Avenue 52 and Celebration Drive.

The male driver, identified as Vem Miller, a 49-year-old resident of Las Vegas, was found to be illegally in possession of a shotgun, a loaded handgun, and a high-capacity magazine.

Miller was taken into custody without incident and later booked at the John J. Benoit Detention Center for possession of a loaded firearm and possession of a high-capacity magazine. This incident did not impact the safety of former President Trump or attendees of the event.

Sheriff Bianco spoke to reporters in a press briefing Sunday afternoon.  He said the Trump event in Coachella was set up with tight security, where they had an outside perimeter and then an inside perimeter.

Miller had claimed he was a member of the press, and when he arrived at the outside perimeter, he “gave all indications that he belonged there” and was allowed to proceed.  But when he came to the “inside perimeter” checkpoint, deputies noted that the interior of the vehicle was in “disarray” and they observed the fake license plate.  That’s when they started searching his car.

The deputies found multiple passports with multiple names, multiple driver’s licenses with different names, and discovered the vehicle was unregistered. Sheriff Bianco said the license plate on Miller’s vehicle “was what we in law enforcement would recognize as one that is homemade and indicative of a group of individuals that claimed to be ‘sovereign citizens.'”

He explained that ‘sovereign citizens’ consider themselves exempt from U.S. law and do not recognize the federal government, but noted it is not yet confirmed whether Miller was a part of that group.

Miller was booked into jail on two misdemeanor weapons charges, but was later released on a $5,000 bond.

Bianco said they are working with the FBI and the Secret Service to make sure the case is followed up on.

Miller spoke with the media on Sunday, and declared his innocence. He said he was “shocked” that he was arrested, insisted he is a supporter of Trump and had no intention of harming him. He claimed he was never told why he was being apprehended.

Sheriff Bianco said whatever Miller told the media is “irrelevant” to him, and declared, “there were a minimum of 25,000 people that entered past those deputies into that location that had legitimate identification and weren’t carrying guns…. I can tell you that none of the other, probably 50,000 people that showed up yesterday for that event brought multiple passports with different names and guns.”

When asked about Miller’s political affiliation, the sheriff retorted, “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. He was a lunatic!”

“If you’re asking me right now, I probably did have deputies that prevented the third assassination attempt … if we are that politically lost, that we have lost sight of common sense and reality and reason, that we can’t say, ‘holy crap, what did he show up with all that stuff for, and loaded guns?’ and I’m going to be accused of being dramatic, we have a serious, serious problem in this country,” Sheriff Bianco declared.

WATCH the sheriff’s full press briefing in the video below.  

Social media is abuzz with confusion over the situation, with many questioning why Miller was released, what his true intentions were, and who he really is.

According to social media posts, Vem Miller attended the Republican National Convention.

Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk commented, “I’m hearing from grassroots sources that Vem Miller is a MAGA guy and that the Sheriff might have bad information. Regardless, if they released him on $5k bail, the story already doesn’t make sense. Keeping my eyes out.”

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