A United States sheriff has said law enforcement officers likely prevented a third assassination attempt against Donald Trump after a man was arrested with unregistered firearms near the Republican candidate’s California campaign rally at the weekend.
Speaking to reporters on Sunday afternoon, Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco said deputies stopped the man at a security perimeter outside the former president’s event in the city of Coachella a day earlier.
Bianco said the suspect “showed up with multiple passports with different names, an unregistered vehicle with [a] fake license plate, and loaded firearms”.
“If you’re asking me right now, I probably did have deputies that prevented the third assassination attempt,” the sheriff told reporters.
The man, identified as 49-year-old Nevada resident Vem Miller, was taken into custody without incident, the sheriff’s office said in a statement earlier in the day.
Miller faces gun charges after he was found in possession of two guns and a high-capacity magazine, authorities said. He was released on bail and is scheduled to appear in court on January 2, 2025.
In an interview with Southern California News Group, Miller – who said he is a Trump supporter – denied trying to harm the former president.
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