A man was arrested with multiple guns outside Donald Trump’s rally in Coachella, California, the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department announced Sunday — along with multiple fake passports and driver’s licenses and what the sheriff identified as a fake VIP pass. The man was identified as Vem Miller, a 49-year-old Las Vegas resident. He had a shotgun, a loaded handgun and a high-capacity magazine, which the department said he possessed illegally.
Whether “Vem Miller” is his actual name was still being assessed as of Sunday afternoon, according to the sheriff’s department, due to the multiple names found on the multiple passports and other IDs in the man’s possession. Miller was arrested without incident before being booked for possession of a loaded firearm and a high-capacity magazine. He was released on $5,000 bail.
The incident didn’t impact the Republican candidate’s safety or that of any of the Coachella rally’s attendees, according to the sheriff’s department.
It wasn’t immediately clear if the man planned to attack the president. Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco told the Riverside Press-Enterprise that he believed Miller planned to kill Trump and that deputies had thwarted those plans. However, Miller told a reporter that he is a supporter of the former president and had brought the guns to protect himself, including notifying police at a checkpoint that the weapons were in his trunk.
Questioned by the press over whether stating that Miller planned to kill the president was “dramatic,” Bianco responded, “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.”
Miller told the Press-Enterprise that he was “shocked” to have been arrested on his way into the rally. “These accusations are complete bulls–t,” Miller said, adding, “I’m an artist, I’m the last person that would cause any violence and harm to anybody.” He is also a caucus captain for Trump.
According to Miller, he received an invitation to the event from the head of Clark County’s Republican Party. Miller said that he had purchased the guns in 2022 and was unaware of differences in the gun laws between Nevada, where he resides, and California.
Miller’s vehicle, a black SUV, was unregistered and bore a fake homemade license plate, according to Bianco. The sheriff also identified Miller as a member of a right-leaning anti-government group and said he is part of the sovereign citizens movement, which doesn’t believe that government rules apply to them if they haven’t consented to those rules. Miller denied that when speaking with the Press-Enterprise. He was arrested while wearing a Trump shirt and hat.
After being detained for eight hours, Miller said, he called a lawyer and told his story about what had happened in front of FBI and Secret Service agents.
Referring to Miller’s fake IDs, Bianca told the Press-Enterprise, “They were different enough to cause the deputies alarm. We probably stopped another assassination attempt.”
Bianca called into question the validity of Miller’s VIP pass for attending the event. While describing himself as a journalist, it was unclear if Miller had valid credentials.
Miller is a registered Republican with a master’s degree from UCLA. He ran for the Nevada state assembly in 2022 but lost in the primary. On what appears to be his LinkedIn page, Miller identifies himself as “an investigative journalist, documentary filmmaker and a content producer.”
A woman identifying herself as Miller’s friend and business partner, Mindy Robinson, posted on X that she also didn’t believe that he planned to attack Trump. They run the America Happens Network, a right-wing anti-mainstream media organization.
“There isn’t a universe his intention was to kill Trump, he’s worked too hard in this movement to expose the Deep State and all the people against him,” Robinson wrote. “If he had guns in his car that were illegal, whooptie-f–king do. As a pro-2A advocate, ask me if I give a s–t about a good guy with a gun in an unsafe s–thole like California. It doesn’t even make sense why his passes would be fake either when we’re both usually invited as media to these things.”
“And I’d love to see exactly what this ‘threat’ was he made about Trump … because I don’t believe he said it,” Robinson added. “I just know it’s going to be the most misconstrued bulls–t thing ever when I finally hear, assuming they even ever tell us.”
Robinson went on to promote a conspiracy theory, adding that she believed Miller was being targeted for a documentary on government conspiracy that they had worked on involving the “deep state,” as well as another conspiracy around the 2017 mass shooting at a Las Vegas music festival.
“Either way, I stand by Vem Miller … and I will get to the bottom of this bulls–t. Watch me,” Robinson concluded.
“The incident did not impact protective operations,” the Secret Service said in a statement. “The Secret Service extends its gratitude to the deputies and local partners who assisted in safeguarding last night’s events.”
Miller has a court date set for Jan. 2, 2025.
