Vem Miller was arrested outside Donald Trump’s rally in California on Saturday after police found what are thought to be illegal firearms in his vehicle.
He was stopped at a checkpoint near the Coachella rally, where police found a shotgun, a loaded handgun, and a high-capacity magazine in his possession.
As well as a fake VIP pass for the event, he also had multiple passports and driver’s licenses with different names in his car, according to Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco.
The 49-year-old Las Vegas resident was then arrested at around 5pm on illegal firearm charges before Bianco claimed he was “probably” trying to assassinate the former president.
He was driving a black SUV at the time of his arrest before being released later on Saturday on a $5,000 (£3,827) bail. No federal arrest – which would indicate more serious charges – has been made though the Secret Service and FBI investigated it.
Bianco said: “He showed up with multiple passports with different names, an unregistered vehicle with fake license plate and loaded firearms. If you are asking me right now, I probably did have deputies that prevented the third assassination attempt.
“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, what did he show up with all that stuff for? And loaded guns?’
“And I’m going to be accused of being dramatic. We have a serious, serious problem in this country because this is common sense and reason. I saw some of you there yesterday – you didn’t have guns and fake IDs.”
Miller is a registered Republican and describes himself as an “investigative journalist” who co-founded a far-right website that vows to “rage against the mainstream media”, according to this LinkedIn.
He has denied he was going to shoot the former president, saying he was “shocked” at his arrest and the accusations levelled against him.
He told the Southern California News Group: “These accusations are complete bull***t. I’m an artist. I’m the last person that would cause any violence and harm to anybody.”
Miller also told Fox News that he sees Trump as “a visual example of freedom of speech” after he drifted away from being a Democrat and into more right-leaning Republican politics.
He said: “This is a man that I deeply admire, because I was a closet individual in terms of my beliefs, because I worked in Hollywood. As my politics started to change, I realized that Hollywood is a homogenous community.”
He also claimed that there were in fact no false IDs on him. Instead, he says the police got confused because he’s Armenian and some of his documents have his full birth name, Vem Vim Yenovkian. He also goes by Vem Miller Yenovkian, according to 2021 court documents.
The Secret Service also responded, saying “the incident did not impact protective operations and former President Trump was not in any danger”.
