Man arrested with a loaded gun near Trump rally

A man arrested with shotgun, handgun in Coachella near Trump rally.

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A Nevada man with a shotgun, loaded handgun, and several fake passports in his vehicle was arrested at a security checkpoint outside Donald Trump’s rally Saturday night in the Southern California desert, the authorities told.

The suspect is a 49-year old man, Vem Miller, resident of Los Vegas, was driving an unregistered black SUV with a “homemade” license plate that was stopped by the deputies assigned to the rally. Mr. Miller was taken into the custody “without incident” , The Riverside County Sheriff’s office said, and booked a possession of a loaded firearm and possession of a high-capacity magazine.

A local sheriff called the suspect a “lunatic” and his office added the encounter did not affect the safety of Trump or the rally’s attendees.

Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco said it was impossible to speculate about what was in the mind of suspect, he said he “truly believed” that his officers had prevented a third assassination attempt. He added that it might be impossible to prove that this was the man’s intent.

Mr. Miller was charged with two misdemeanour weapons charges and released on a $5,000 bail. No federal charges have been filed.

The U.S. Secret Service said, “Trump was not in any danger” adding that the incident did not impact protective operations.

In a police news conference on Sunday, Mr. Bianco warned he might not be able to “give all the information…. because of what we’re doing.”

The sheriff added that as the suspect approached an outside perimeter, near the location of the rally, he “gave all indications that he was allowed to be there.”

Multiple passports with multiple names and multiple driving  licence plate were found in the car, the Sheriff said adding that the licence plate was “home-made” and not registered.

He said the licence plate was also “indicative of a group of individuals that claim to be Sovereign Citizens”, but he had not concluded that Mr. Miller was a member.

The US Attorney’s office, Secret Service, and the FBI are aware of the arrest, according to a statement from federal authorities.

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