Nevada man with a rifle, a loaded gun , ammunition and several fake passports in his car was arrested at a checkpoint near a rally of US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on Saturday night in the Southern California desert, the Associated Press reported, citing BTA, citing authorities .
The man was released the same day on $5,000 bail.
The suspect, a 49-year-old Las Vegas resident, was driving an unregistered black SUV with a homemade license plate that was pulled over by local law enforcement officers guarding a Trump rally in Coachella, east of Los Angeles, the sheriff said at a news conference. of Riverside County Chad Bianco.
Bianco said he believes his department prevented an assassination attempt, though he admitted that's speculation. A federal official said yesterday that a federal investigation is underway, Reuters reported.
"What we do know is that he showed up with multiple passports in different names, an unregistered vehicle with fake license plates and loaded firearms,'' the sheriff said at a news conference yesterday afternoon, adding: "I really think , that we prevented another assassination attempt".
The man, identified as Vem Miller, was taken into custody without incident, the sheriff's office said. Trump was not yet on stage at the time.
Jail records show Miller was out on bail after being charged with possession of a loaded firearm and a high-capacity magazine, both misdemeanors.
"The incident did not affect the safety of former President Trump or those attending the event,”, the sheriff's office said in a statement.
The Los Angeles district attorney's office also said on its website yesterday that Trump was not in danger. She referred to the Secret Service. The statement from the sheriff's office noted that while no federal arrests have been made, the investigation is ongoing.
Trump narrowly survived an assassination attempt in July when a gunman's bullet grazed his ear at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. In September, another man was charged with trying to kill Trump after Secret Service agents found him hiding with a rifle near Trump's golf course in Palm Beach. He pleaded not guilty. These attempts have raised questions about the Secret Service's security planning and response.