The Riverside County Sheriff’s Office reported Sunday that a man found illegally in possession of a shotgun and a loaded handgun was arrested Saturday by sheriff’s deputies assigned to protect a Donald Trump rally in Coachella, California.
Officers guarding a checkpoint near the rally stopped Vem Miller, 49, of Las Vegas, as he approached in a black SUV.
He was later transported to a local detention center on charges of possessing a loaded firearm and a high-capacity magazine.
“This incident did not affect the safety of former President Trump or those attending the event,” the statement said.
The sheriff’s office offered no immediate information about Miller’s intentions. He was released on bail and faces a court hearing on January 2.
However, after two assassination attempts – one in Pennsylvania, in which a bullet grazed Trump’s ear, and a second aborted attempt at his Florida golf course – the arrest raised concerns.
There was no immediate comment from either the Trump campaign or the US Secret Service, charged with protecting senior officials and candidates.
The sheriff’s office said it would provide additional details at a briefing later Sunday. Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco addressed Trump supporters at Saturday’s rally in Coachella.
Trump’s decision to hold a rally in California surprised political analysts, who note that the state is overwhelmingly Democratic, but it drew a large crowd, even with temperatures near 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius).
Coachella is known for its annual music festival.
On September 15, shots were fired near Trump’s golf club in Palm Beach, Florida. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) confirmed that the event was investigated as an “attempted assassination” against the former president.
The suspect, identified as Ryan Routh, was charged with federal firearms charges, for which he could face up to 20 years in prison.
Over the course of a hearing lasting just under ten minutes and led by Federal Magistrate Ryon McCabe, prosecutors charged Routh with two counts: possession of a firearm while a convicted felon and possession of a firearm with a number erased serial number.
Moments before the appearance, police authorities announced that the AK-47 rifle seized at the scene and with which it is believed the suspect intended to shoot Trump had its serial number scratched off.
The second assassination attempt on the current Republican candidate, a little more than two months after the one he suffered in Butler (Pennsylvania), occurred that September 15, around 1:30 p.m. local time (5:30 p.m. GMT), and was prevented after Secret Service agents spotted a man with a rifle with a telescopic sight behind a golf course fence.
The Secret Service fired shots and the man ran out of some bushes where he was hiding, but he was arrested a few minutes later on a road in his vehicle. The gun was found in the bushes as well as two backpacks and a GoPro sports camera.
For his part, Trump himself acknowledged that he was saved by a “miracle” from the attack against him on July 13 in Pennsylvania. That day, Thomas Matthew Crooks, who was carrying an AR-style semi-automatic rifle, fired shots while the former president was giving his speech to his supporters. A bullet wounded the Republican magnate in his right ear, who was quickly assisted and escorted by his security detail.
Crooks, meanwhile, was killed by snipers who were at the scene.
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