The arrest occurred in the wake of two previous alleged assassination attempts on Trump.
COACHELLA, Calif.—The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department arrested an armed man who allegedly said he wanted to “kill the president” outside the perimeter of a Trump rally on Oct. 12, Sheriff Chad Bianco told The Epoch Times in a text message on Sunday.
The rally was held in the city of Coachella in Southern California, 130 miles east of Los Angeles.
“We arrested a man trying to get in the perimeter with two firearms who ended up saying he was going to kill the president,” Bianco said in the text.
At around 5 p.m., deputies assigned to the rally encountered the driver of a black SUV at a checkpoint at the intersection of Avenue 52 and Celebration Drive, said the sheriff’s department in a news alert on Sunday.
The driver, identified as Vem Miller, a 49-year-old resident of Las Vegas, was accused of illegally possessing a shotgun, a loaded handgun, and a high-capacity magazine.
The driver was taken into custody and booked at the John J. Benoit Detention Center for possession of a loaded firearm and possession of a high-capacity magazine.
“This incident did not impact the safety of former President Trump or attendees of the event,” said the department.
Bianco later confirmed to the Riverside Press-Enterprise that Miller was suspected of plotting to kill Trump.
The arrest occurred in the wake of two previous alleged assassination attempts on Trump, the first on July 13 when a shooter’s bullet grazed his ear at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, and the second at the former president’s golf course in Florida in mid-September.
Further details of the California arrest were not immediately available.
Another man, an Iraqi national, who was singled out as a “hit” by police dogs trained to identify explosives, was also turned away from the event, Bianco said.
This is a developing story.
By Brad Jones
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