Federal authorities are investigating after a man with a gun in his car was stopped and arrested Saturday at a checkpoint near former President Donald Trump’s campaign rally.
The Justice Department announced Sunday that the Secret Service and FBI were investigating the incident in Coachella, California, about 400 meters from the rally site.
“The U.S. Secret Service assesses that this incident did not impact protection operations and that former President Trump was not in any danger,” Martin Estrada, the U.S. attorney for Central California, said in a statement. said. “No federal arrests have been made at this time, but the investigation is ongoing.”
Federal law enforcement officials said there was no indication there was an attempt to assassinate President Trump.
Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco said at a press conference Sunday that the man in question tried to get “inside” security guards guarding the venue, where all vehicles were supposed to be stopped, around 5 p.m. local time on Saturday. He said he was stopped at a checkpoint. The deputy noticed his SUV was disorganized inside and displayed an “obviously false license plate.”
Bianco said officers found two unregistered firearms (a shotgun and a loaded handgun) and “multiple boxes of ammunition.”
The venue is a competition and practice ranch used by the Empire Polo Club, which has offered its former home in neighboring Indio to concert promoters behind the famed Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. I was doing it.
Donald Trump takes to the stage for a campaign rally in Coachella, California, on Saturday. Mario Tama/Getty Images
Bianco said the stopped man, who identified himself as Bem Miller, was invited to the rally by another attendee and was also allowed to attend as a journalist. Officers found multiple fake identification documents inside the SUV, including passports with different names.
Miller, 49, of the Las Vegas area, was arrested on suspicion of possessing a loaded firearm and possessing a high-capacity magazine, a type of magazine that is illegal in California, according to Riverside County inmate records. It was done. Both are misdemeanors.
Records show he was released just before midnight. Bianco said further investigation into why he tried to get to the venue under false pretenses is within the purview of federal law enforcement.
Secret Service officials said in a statement: “We were contacted at the time of the incident and Secret Service personnel conducted a productive intelligence interview. The incident is unaffected and we are investigating the circumstances and background of the individual.” Ta.
An official familiar with the situation said President Trump was not at the venue when the man was stopped.
When asked about the arrest, Trump campaign officials said they had no knowledge of the incident. There were no comments or responses when additional information was provided.
Trump is running as the Republican candidate for a second term against Vice President Kamala Harris and was the subject of assassination attempts in July and September.
On July 13, a gunman punched President Trump in the ear and fatally shot him at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. The gunman was killed. Then, on September 15, a man believed to be a would-be gunman was found hiding in the bushes at the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, not far from his home.
Bianco said the man who was stopped Saturday “gave all the signs that he belonged there” and then walked through the perimeter. But he expressed confidence that there was little chance of men crossing the inner perimeter, especially if they had received permission from a third party to attend, which he said was not realistic.
“I can’t give a pass to a former president’s rally,” said Bianco, who has expressed political support for Trump.
He said the immigration process included passing through a metal detector at a Secret Service pedestrian checkpoint at the entrance.
Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco speaks before leading the Pledge of Allegiance at Donald Trump’s campaign rally near Coachella, California, on Saturday. Andy Abeyta/Desert Sun/USA Today
Bianco said the situation could have been much worse if deputies had not acted quickly to stop the man from joining the rally early on.
“I was completely confident that nothing would happen inside that facility,” he said.
Bianco cited a false license plate and missing documentation on the vehicle, including its registration, as indications that the man may be part of the anti-government sovereign movement.
Miller was scheduled to appear in court on Jan. 2 in a weapons violation case near Indio.
julia ainslie
Kelly O’Donnell, Jake Traylor, Andrew Blankstein, and Tom Winter contributed.
