On October 12, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump held a rally in Southern California, where he narrowly escaped a potential attack. According to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, a man from Las Vegas was arrested near the rally in Coachella for illegal possession of firearms.
The incident took place at 4:59 PM at a checkpoint located at the intersection of Coachella Avenue 52 and Celebration Drive, just before the rally was set to begin at 5 PM. Authorities reported that 49-year-old Vem Miller, a Las Vegas resident driving a black SUV, was found in possession of an illegal shotgun, a loaded handgun, and a high-capacity magazine. He was taken into custody and transported to the John J. Benoit Detention Center, facing charges of illegally possessing ammunition and a large-capacity magazine.
The inmate information system for Riverside County indicates that Miller was released the day after his arrest on a $5,000 bail. Police confirmed that this incident posed no safety threat to the rally participants or Trump himself, with no injuries reported and no shots fired. However, further details, including the exact location of the firearms within Miller’s SUV, have not yet been disclosed.
Chad Bianco, the Riverside County Sheriff and a public supporter of Trump, stated in an interview that this incident was “very likely” a third assassination attempt against the former president. Bianco noted that Miller had shown a false VIP and media pass at the checkpoint, which drew the attention of law enforcement and led to his search. “We may have prevented an assassination attempt,” Bianco told Southern California News Group (SCNG).
As of the afternoon of October 13, Trump had not publicly commented on the incident. Prior to this, two previous assassination plots against him had also been thwarted.
