Third Trump assassination attempt ‘probably stopped’ as police arrest armed man near Coachella rally

A man armed with guns and fake passes has been arrested near a Trump rally, stopping what police say was “probably” an assassination attempt.

A man armed with guns and fake entry passes has been arrested near a Donald Trump rally in California with police saying they “probably stopped” a third assassination attempt.

But in a bizarre press conference, Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco said “I don’t remember saying that” while the suspect insisted “these accustations are complete bulls**t”.

Vem Miller, 49, was stopped in a black SUV by deputies manning a checkpoint about a mile (1.6km) from the former President’s rally in Coachella Valley just before 5pm on Saturday, the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office said on Sunday.

The Las Vegas resident was found to be illegally in possession of a shotgun, a loaded handgun and a high-capacity magazine, police said.

Donald Trump in Coachella, California. Picture: Mario Tama/Getty Images/AFP

“We probably stopped another assassination attempt,” Sheriff Bianco told the Riverside Press-Enterprise.

Mr Miller also had fake press and VIP entry passes.

“They were different enough to cause the deputies alarm,” Sheriff Bianco said, according to the newspaper.

Mr Miller is believed to be a member of a right wing anti-government organisation, according to Sheriff Bianco, and was plotting to kill Mr Trump.

He has a UCLA Masters degree, and in 2022 ran for Nevada State assembly, the newspaper reported.

Mr 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.

A third potential shooter has been stopped. Picture: Frederic J. Brown/AFP

“This incident did not impact the safety of former President Trump or attendees of the event,” the Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.

Mr Miller was released after posting $US5000 ($7400) bail, police records show. He faces a court hearing on January 2.

He is a registered Republican and has an extensive history of petty run-ins with the law, sources told the NY Post. He appears to be a member of the sovereign citizen anti-government movement.

He also runs The America Happens Network, a fringe right-wing online outlet whose motto is “rage against the mainstream media”.

There was no immediate comment from either the Trump campaign or the US Secret Service.

However a source close to the campaign downplayed the threat, telling The Daily Mail there was no assassination attempt.

Speaking to reporters on Sunday, Sheriff Bianco was asked about his comment to the Riverside Press-Enterprise that an assassination attempt was “probably stopped”.

“I will be honest with you, I don’t remember saying that but it certainly would be something I did say because it’s something that in the last 12 hours we’ve talked about extensively of what happened,” he said.

Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco. Picture: X

“Thank God, and by an act of really what we did in the week leading up to keeping that place secure, I certainly wouldn’t want to be saying after the fact that I wish we would have done something to prevent that shooting. There is absolutely no way that any of us are going to truly know what was in his head. I can tell you that none of the other probably 50,000 people that showed up yesterday to that event brought multiple passports with different names and guns.”

Sheriff Bianco denied he was being “dramatic”. He said Mr Miller was driving an unregistered vehicle with fake license plates.

“If you’re asking me right now, I probably did have deputies that prevented the third assassination attempt,” he said.

Mr Miller, speaking to the Southern California News Group on Sunday, said he was “shocked” he was arrested and insisted he supported Mr Trump.

“These accusations are complete bull**t,” he said. “I’m an artist, I’m the last person that would cause any violence and harm to anybody.”

Mr Trump’s decision to hold a rally in California surprised political analysts, who note that the state is heavily Democratic, but he drew a large crowd, even in near 38-degree temperatures.

Coachella is known for its annual music festival.

It comes after two earlier assassination attempts on Mr Trump – one at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania in July and a second at his Florida golf course last month.

Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, who was spotted by Secret Service waiting in the bushes with an SKS rifle at Trump International Golf Club on September 15, was indicted by a federal grand jury on September 24 on five counts including attempted assassination of a major presidential candidate.

He was also charged with possessing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, assaulting a federal officer, felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition, and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number.

The Hawaii resident pleaded not guilty in West Palm Beach on September 30.

The aborted assassination attempt came two months after Mr Trump was nearly killed at the Butler rally.

Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, crawled onto a roof overlooking the rally stage and opened fire with an AR-15, hitting the former President’s ear, killing rally attendee Corey Comperatore, 50, and leaving two others injured.

Mr Trump returned to the site of the shooting last week for a much-hyped rally, exactly one month before the November 5 presidential election.

Vice President Kamala Harris has been sliding in the polls in recent weeks and is neck-and-neck with Mr Trump in several key battleground states that will decide the election.

But the Democratic nominee is still the favourite, with polling analysis website FiveThirtyEight giving Ms Harris a 53 per cent chance of winning the electoral college as of October 10.

– with NY Post and AFP

Originally published as Third Trump assassination attempt ‘probably stopped’ as police arrest armed man near Coachella rally