A Las Vegas man said allegations by a Riverside County sheriff that he intended to assassinate former President Donald Trump are ‘complete bull***t.’
Riverside County Sheriff’s Department deputies stopped Vem Miller, 49, at a checkpoint about a quarter mile from a Trump rally on Saturday in Coachella Valley, California. Miller said that as a courtesy, he informed a deputy that he was lawfully carrying firearms in the trunk of his SUV. He claimed that he was carrying them for his own protection, according to The Press-Enterprise.
However, Miller was found to be illegally carrying a shotgun, loaded handgun, and a high-capacity magazine, per California state law. Deputies said that Miller’s SUV had a fake license plate and was unregistered, and he was in possession of multiple phony passports and driver’s licenses. He also allegedly carried a fake VIP pass that he presented at the checkpoint.
“We probably stopped another assassination attempt,” Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco said, per Southern California News Group.
Bianco claimed that Miller was part of a right-leaning anti-government group and appeared to be interested in sovereign citizen groups who do not believe they are subject to government statutes.
At a press conference on Sunday, Bianco referred to Miller as a “lunatic” and took umbrage at a reporter’s suggestion that he was being “dramatic” by claiming his department had thwarted an assassination attempt.
“If you are asking me right now, I probably did have deputies that prevented the third assassination attempt. 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,” Bianco said, per The Press-Enterprise.
“I certainly didn’t want to be saying after the fact: ‘I wish we had done something to prevent that shooting,’ ” Bianco added. “There is absolutely no way any of us are going to truly know what was in his head.”
Miller said he was “shocked” at the accusation that he was trying to harm Trump, whom he said he supports. When he arrived at the checkpoint, he was wearing a Trump shirt and hat.
“These accusations are complete bull***t,” Miller said in an interview with Southern California News Group. “I’m an artist, I’m the last person that would cause any violence and harm to anybody.”
Miller claimed that he was a Trump Caucus captain and was given a special invitation to the rally by the head of the Clark County Republican Party. He also stated that he bought the guns in 2022 after receiving death threats and that he was not familiar with the difference in gun laws between his home state of Nevada and those in California.
Miller ran for state assembly in Nevada in 2022 but lost in the primary. He reportedly co-founded The America Happens Network and described himself on LinkedIn as an “investigative journalist, documentary filmmaker, and a content producer.”
Miller was charged with possession of a loaded firearm and high-capacity magazine on October 12 and released on a $5,000 bond later the same day.