Vem Miller is a registered Republican who tried to present fake VIP credentials at a Trump rally on Saturday when he instead found himself arrested on illegal firearms charges, Daily Mail reports.
The 49-year-old Vem Miller Las Vegas resident describes himself on LinkedIn as an ‘investigative journalist’ and is the cofounder of what appears to be a fringe, far-right website that vows to ‘rage against the mainstream media,’ according to the report by Daily Mail.
On Saturday, the Riverside County Sheriff claimed Vem Miller was ‘probably’ seeking to assassinate former President Donald Trump.
But a source close to Trump campaign downplayed the threat and told DailyMaill that there was no assassination attempt.
Miller was stopped at a checkpoint near the former president’s rally in Coachella, California on Saturday. Police found a shotgun, high capacity magazine and loaded handgun in his vehicle.
He was taken into custody but as of Sunday posted bail and was released.
According to a still-active Facebook page and his LinkedIn profile, Vem Miller ran for Assemblyman in Nevada’s 13th District in 2022.
Through his work as a ‘content producer,’ Vem Miller says he ‘learned a lot about politics, and how the world of politics is run, often to the detriment of We The People.’
His goal, he claims on LinkedIn, is to ‘restore out constitutional rights, including 2A,’ which references Second Amendment rights to possess firearms, and ‘stop voter fraud.’
‘This incident did not impact the safety of former President Trump or attendees of the event,’ the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office insisted in a statement.
But Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco told Southern California News Group: ‘We probably stopped another assassination attempt.’
Bianco, a known Trump supporter, told the outlet that Miller presented fake VIP and press passes at the checkpoint, which is what led to the search.
He will hold a press conference to brief the public about the incident at 6:00 p.m. eastern time on Sunday.
Miller was found to be in illegal possession of the firearms, magazines and ammo when his black SUV was checked by law enforcement on Saturday.
He was booked at John Benoit Detention Center, made his $10,000 bail – $5,000 for each of two misdemeanors for which he was charged – and as of Sunday was no longer in custody.
Miller has his next court appearance set for January 2.
‘There was no assassination attempt in CA yesterday,’ a source close with Trump’s campaign told DailyMail.com. ‘A man at a perimeter checkpoint had a gun but there was no incident.’
The latest comes as Trump’s protective detail remains on high alert following two assassination attempts against the former president.
The first came at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13 when 20-year-old shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks struck Trump in his right ear before being shot dead by Secret Service. The would-be assassin killed one rally goer and critically injured two others with his rifle where he was crouched a few hundred feet from where Trump was speaking that day.
Then just two months later on August 15, Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, was arrested in Florida when he fled the scene where the Secret Service fired at him.
Routh allegedly aimed a rifle at Trump while he was golfing at his club in West Palm Beach before the former president’s security detail saw the barrel of the firearm and deterred a second assassination attempt.