Alleged 'sovereign citizen' arrested with firearms in car near Trump rally, police say. Photo: Video screenshot
A 49-year-old man known as Vem Miller of Las Vegas was apprehended and accused of illegal ownership of weapons after he attempted to enter former President Donald J. Trump’s rally in Coachella, Califonia on Saturday evening, the Riverside County sheriff’s office said on Sunday.
According to the report, the man was allegedly found possessing a shotgun, a loaded handgun and a high-capacity magazine, the sheriff’s office said.
The suspect was later released on bail, according to the county’s inmate information system.
The report said Mr Miller had been allowed through an outer ring of security as he drove toward the rally but was stopped by law enforcement officers at a second level of security before Mr Trump had arrived at the rally, Chad Bianco, the Riverside County sheriff, said in a news conference on Sunday.
In a joint statement, the U.S. attorney’s office, the Secret Service and the F.B.I. said that the Secret Service had determined “the incident did not impact protective operations and former President Trump was not in any danger.”
The statement said that “while no federal arrest has been made at this time, the investigation is ongoing.”
It was not clear what Mr. Miller’s motives were. Mr. Bianco said at a news conference that he believed the arrest could have thwarted a third assassination attempt on Mr. Trump.
“If you’re asking me right now, I probably did have deputies that prevented the third assassination attempt,” Mr. Bianco said while acknowledging that “all we can do is speculate” as to Mr. Miller’s motives.
Mr. Miller was released Saturday on $5,000 bail and a court date was set for Jan. 2, according to the county’s inmate information system.
The incident was another reminder of the security concerns surrounding Mr. Trump, who has already been the target of two assassination attempts this year. On July 13, a gunman shot at Mr. Trump at a rally in Butler, Pa., injuring him and two others and killing one man before he was shot and killed. And on Sept. 15, Secret Service agents noticed a would-be gunman waiting at Mr. Trump’s golf course in West Palm Beach, Fla., as the former president golfed there. The man was later taken into custody and charged with the attempted assassination of Mr. Trump.
Mr Bianco said that Mr Miller “gave all indications” he was allowed at the rally, claiming that he was a V.I.P. guest and a member of the press and that he bypassed the first level of security. But as he tried to drive closer to the venue, a deputy noticed that the inside of Mr. Miller’s car was in “disarray” and that he had a fake license plate, prompting an investigation.
Mr. Miller did not respond to an email seeking comment. The Press-Enterprise reported Sunday that Mr. Miller told the Southern California News Group in an interview that he was “shocked” by the arrest, that he supports Mr. Trump and that he was “the last person that would cause any violence and harm to anybody.” In the interview, he said he was unfamiliar with the difference between California’s and Nevada’s gun laws.
Law enforcement officers discovered that Mr. Miller had multiple passports with various names, and multiple driver’s licenses and that his car was unregistered, Mr. Bianco said. They also ascertained that Mr Miller appeared to consider himself a “sovereign citizen,” which Mr Bianco described as part of a “far-right” and “fringe” group that believes government laws do not apply to them.
官員稱，一名男子因涉嫌攜帶武器前往科切拉川普集會而被捕並被指控
河濱縣治安官辦公室表示，週六晚上，拉斯維加斯一名名叫維姆·米勒(Vem Miller) 的49 歲男子試圖進入前總統唐納德·J·特朗普(Donald J. Trump ) 在加州科切拉(Coachella) 舉行的集會後被捕，並被指控非法擁有武器。
治安官辦公室稱，據報道，這名男子據稱擁有一把獵槍、一把上膛的手槍和一把大容量彈匣。
據該縣囚犯資訊系統顯示，嫌疑人後來被保釋。
報道稱，米勒先生在駕車前往集會地點時被允許通過外環安全檢查，但在川普抵達集會地點查德·比安科(Chad Bianco) 河濱之前，他被二級安全檢查的執法人員攔下。
在一份聯合聲明中，美國檢察官辦公室、特勤局和聯邦調查局 (FBI) 表示特勤局已確定“該事件沒有影響防護行動，前總統川普沒有處於任何危險之中。”
聲明稱，“雖然目前聯邦尚未逮捕任何人，但調查仍在進行中。”
目前尚不清楚米勒先生的動機是什麼。 比安科在記者會上表示，他相信這次逮捕可能會挫敗針對川普的第三次暗殺企圖。
「如果你現在問我，我可能確實有代表阻止了第三次暗殺企圖，」比安科先生說，同時承認「我們所能做的就是猜測」米勒先生的動機。
據該縣囚犯資訊系統顯示，米勒先生於週六以 5,000 美元的保釋金獲釋，開庭日期定於 1 月 2 日。
這起事件再次提醒人們對川普的安全擔憂，川普今年已經成為兩次暗殺企圖的目標。 7 月 13 日，一名槍手在賓夕法尼亞州巴特勒的一次集會上向川普開槍，導致他和另外兩人受傷，並殺死一名男子，然後他被槍殺。 9 月 15 日，特勤局特工注意到一名潛在槍手在佛羅裡達州西棕櫚灘的川普高爾夫球場等候，當時這位前總統正在那裡打高爾夫球。 該男子後來被拘留，並被指控企圖暗殺川普。
比安科先生說，米勒先生“給出了所有跡象”，他被允許參加集會，並聲稱他是貴賓。 客人和一名新聞界人士，並且他繞過了第一層安全檢查。 但當他試圖開車靠近會場時，一名警員注意到米勒先生的車內“混亂”，而且他的車牌明顯是假的，遂展開調查。
米勒先生沒有回覆尋求置評的電子郵件。
《新聞企業報》週日報道稱，米勒先生在接受南加州新聞組採訪時表示，他對逮捕感到“震驚”，他支持川普先生，並且他是“最後一個會造成任何暴力和傷害的人”。
對任何人。” 他在採訪中表示，他不熟悉加州和內華達州槍支法之間的差異。
比安科說，執法人員發現米勒擁有多本不同姓名的護照和多張駕照，而且他的汽車沒有註冊。 他們還確定米勒先生似乎認為自己是“主權公民”，比安科先生將其描述為“極右”和“邊緣”團體的一部分，這些團體認為政府法律不適用於他們。
Source: The New York Times
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