Third assassination attempt on Trump foiled in Coachella, Riverside County sheriff says

COACHELLA, California. – A possible third assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump was foiled Saturday near his rally in the Coachella Valley, according to Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco.

The suspect was identified as Vem Miller, 49, of Las Vegas.

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According to the sheriff’s department, Miller was driving a black SUV and approaching a checkpoint located within the perimeter leading to the event entrance at the intersection of Avenue 52 and Celebration Drive around 5 p.m. when contacted by officers.

Miller allegedly told authorities he was a journalist and claimed he had access to the VIP area of ​​the rally. But after an initial evaluation, deputies found “irregularities” in Miller’s story.

Miller was found to be driving an unregistered vehicle with a fake license plate and was also in possession of multiple passports and driver’s licenses with different names, Sheriff Bianco said at a news conference Sunday.

Two rifles and several boxes of ammunition were also found inside the SUV.

Miller was arrested for possession of a loaded firearm and a high-capacity magazine. Authorities said Miller was also illegally in possession of a shotgun. He was indicted and has since been released.

“This incident did not impact the safety of former President Trump or event attendees,” officials said, since it occurred before Trump arrived in the area.

“We prevented something bad from happening,” Bianco said.

The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department is working alongside the FBI and Secret Service as the investigation continues.

Trump used his visit to Coachella to attack the nation’s most populous state, citing its recent problems with homelessness, water shortages and lack of affordability.

“We are not going to let Kamala Harris do to America what she did to California,” Trump said, calling the state a “Paradise Lost.”

Speaking for 80 minutes Saturday night, Trump ran through the standard list of Republican complaints against the Democratic-dominated state — its large number of illegal immigrants in the United States, its homeless population and its thicket of regulations — and embarked on a battle for water rights. the Delta smelt, an endangered species, which pitted environmentalists against farmers.

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The former president was particularly scathing about illegal immigration, warning at one point: “Your children are in danger. You can’t go to school with these people, these people are from another planet “.

Trump visited Coachella between two stops in Nevada, during a roundtable in Las Vegas for Latinos earlier Saturday — where he praised Hispanics as having “such energy” — and Arizona, for a Sunday rally in Prescott Valley. He narrowly lost these two swing states to Democrat Joe Biden in 2020.