LOS ANGELES — A Las Vegas man was arrested with guns and fake IDs about a quarter mile from former President Donald Trump’s campaign rally in Coachella Valley, Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco said Sunday.

But while the sheriff called the arrest for a thwarted assassination attempt, the man, Vem Miller, told a reporter he is a Trump supporter who bought the guns for his own safety and notified police at a checkpoint that they were in the trunk of his car.

So, who is Vem Miller?

Miller, 49, is a registered Republican who holds a master’s degree from UCLA, and ran for state assembly in Nevada in 2022. He lost in the primary.

He told the Las Vegas Review-Journal at the time that he was running because “this country has been taken over by tyranny.” He said he supported more electric car manufacturing in Nevada and solar energy but would also want to focus on election security issues if he had been elected to office, including strengthening voter ID laws and implementing paper ballots again.

Miller also runs The America Happens Network, whose motto is “Rage against the mainstream media.”

On his LinkedIn, he wrote, “For 20 years +, I have been working in the media as an investigative journalist, documentary filmmaker, and a content producer ... I have seen our rights be taken, while the power of big government grows I have seen small businesses and the middle class be squashed. I have seen illegal mandates and politicians acting like dictators. I have also seen how the power of the money flows through politics and a political class that no longer works for We The People."

Bianco said Miller appeared to be a part of or have an affinity for so-called sovereign citizens, a group of people who do not believe they are subject to any government statutes unless they consent to them.

In his interview with a reporter, Miller flatly denied that.

On Instagram, Miller has numerous pictures with various notable Republicans or figures who have endorsed Trump such as Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Col. Douglas Macgregor and Stephen Miller, among others. He appears to have attended the Republican National Convention. Many of his posts are pro-Trump or anti-Vice President Kamala Harris, anti-vaccine, or focus on culture war issues surrounding gender.

Why Miller was at the Coachella Trump rally

Miller said he received a special invitation to the Coachella Valley rally from the head of Clark County’s Republican Party.

What happened before the rally that led to Miller’s arrest?

Sheriff’s deputies assigned to Trump’s rally said a driver, identified as Miller, rolled up in a black SUV to a checkpoint at the intersection of Avenue 52 and Celebration Drive around 5 p.m. Pacific time on Saturday. There he was found to be in illegal possession of a shotgun, loaded handgun and a high-capacity magazine, Bianco said. He added that Miller’s car had a fake license plate and was unregistered. Deputies also found multiple phone passports and driver’s licenses, Bianco said.

Miller tells the story differently. In an interview with the Southern California News Group, he said he showed up to the rally donning a Trump shirt and hat and reached a checkpoint prior to entering the event parking lot and told a deputy he was lawfully carrying firearms in his trunk – as a courtesy.

He was asked to pull over and step out of the car before he was handcuffed and had his vehicle “ransacked,” after a deputy said he wanted to retrieve the gun’s serial numbers to confirm they were legally purchased.

Miller said he bought the firearms in 2022 for protection, after he started receiving death threats. He said he had never fired them and said he was unfamiliar with the difference between Nevada and California’s gun laws.

He also denied presenting a press pass at the checkpoint and said he only had a "special entry pass."

Was this another assassination attempt targeted at Trump?

In September, 58-year-old Ryan Wesley Routh was charged with attempting to assassinate Trump as the former president played golf. U.S. Secret Service agents found Routh with a high-powered rifle on Sept. 15 outside Trump International Golf Club in Palm Beach, Florida. Agents spotted the barrel of his weapon in the bushes and fired at him before he fled.

On July 13, 2024, at a rally near Butler, Pennsylvania, Matthew Crooks shot at Trump with an AR-15–style rifle from a nearby rooftop as Trump gave a campaign speech. Crooks hit Trump’s ear with a shot and killed one attendee while critically injuring two others before Crooks was killed by Secret Service countersniper agents.

After Miller’s arrest, Bianco said his department had prevented another attempted assassination of Trump.

“If you are asking me right now, I probably did have deputies that prevented the third assassination attempt,” Bianco said during a news conference. “If we are that politically lost that we have lost sight of common sense and reality and reason that we can’t say ‘Holy crap, why’d he show up with all that stuff for and loaded guns?’ and I am going to be accused of being dramatic? We have a serious, serious problem in this country. Because this is common sense and reason.”

At one point, Bianco called Miller “a lunatic.”

But Miller disputes the claim.

“These accusations are complete bull----,” Miller said. “I’m an artist, I’m the last person that would cause any violence and harm to anybody.”

Mindy Robinson, who described herself as Miller’s partner at America Happens, posted on X and Instagram on Sunday that the accusations against Miller don’t make sense to her.

“There isn’t a universe (where) his intention was to kill Trump,” Robinson wrote. “He’s worked too hard in this movement to expose the Deep State and all the people against him.”

Miller was booked at the John J. Benoit Detention Center in Indio for possessing a loaded firearm and high-capacity magazine, authorities said.

He was released Saturday on $5,000 bail and is scheduled to appear at the Indio Larson Justice Center on Jan. 2, 2025, according to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department inmate database.

Bianco said if there are any further charges, they would come from the federal government. He said the FBI, the Secret Service and the Sheriff’s Department are continuing to investigate.

The Secret Service put out a brief statement saying it was aware of the arrest. “The incident did not impact protective operations. The Secret Service extends its gratitude to the deputies and local partners who assisted in safeguarding last night’s events,” the agency said.

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