Vem Miller is a registered Republican who tried to provide fake VIP credentials at a Trump rally on Saturday and was later arrested on illegal firearms charges.
The 49-year-old Las Vegas resident describes himself on LinkedIn as an ‘investigative journalist’ and is the founder of a fringe, far-right website that vows to ‘rage the mainstream media.’
On Saturday, Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco claimed Miller ‘probably’ sought to kill former President Donald Trump.
But a source close to the Trump campaign downplayed the threat and told DailyMaill.com that there was no assassination attempt.
Vem Miller, 49, was arrested near a Donald Trump rally in Coachella, California after a firearm and high-capacity magazine were found in his car during a checkpoint search.
Miller was stopped at a checkpoint near the former president’s rally in Coachella, California, on Saturday. Police found a rifle, a loaded handgun and a high-capacity magazine in his vehicle.
According to Sheriff Bianco, they also had passports and driver’s licenses in different names in the car.
Deputies noticed that the interior of Miller’s vehicle was in ‘quite disarray.’
“The vehicle had an obviously fake license plate, and that prompted further investigation by our deputies as to why the man was where he was … and what he was doing,” Bianco said.
“During the investigation, the deputy eventually discovered multiple passports in multiple names, multiple driver’s licenses in different names, the vehicle was unregistered,” he said.
In addition, he said that the plate is ‘homemade.’
Bianco doubled down during a press conference Sunday, saying ‘I probably had a deputy who prevented a third assassination attempt’ and calling Miller a political ‘crazy.’
He said his office is working closely with the FBI and the U.S. Secret Service.
Miller was taken into custody but on Sunday posted a $5,000 bond and was released.
According to his still-active Facebook page and LinkedIn profile, Miller is running for council in Nevada’s 13th District in 2022.
Through his work as a ‘content producer,’ Miller says he’s ‘learned a lot about politics, and how the political world works, often to the detriment of We The People.’
His goal, he claimed on LinkedIn, was to ‘restore constitutional rights, including the 2A,’ which refers to the Second Amendment right to own a firearm, and to ‘stop voter fraud.’
Miller is a Las Vegas resident, Second Amendment advocate and self-described investigative reporter. The registered Republican is pictured here with Jacob Chansley, known as QAnon Shaman after his picture went viral of a viking riot at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021
At an outdoor rally, Donald Trump spoke behind bulletproof glass that has been more visible since the assassination attempt on him in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13. Image: Trump at a rally in Coachella, California on October 12, 2024
Vem Miller is running for an assembly position in Nevada in 2022, according to his Facebook and LinkedIn profiles
“This incident did not affect the safety of former President Trump or those attending the event,” the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.
But Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco told the Southern California News Group: ‘We probably stopped trying to kill another.’
Bianco, a known Trump supporter, told the outlet that Miller presented a fake VIP and pass at the checkpoint, which prompted the search.
Miller was found in illegal possession of firearms, magazines and ammunition when his black SUV was searched by law enforcement on Friday.
He was booked into the John Benoit Detention Center, posted a $10,000 bond — $5,000 for each of the two misdemeanor charges — and was no longer being held Sunday.
Miller has his next court appearance on Jan. 2.
‘There was no assassination attempt in CA yesterday,’ a source close to the Trump campaign told DailyMail.com. ‘A man at the perimeter checkpoint has a gun but nothing happened.’
The latest comes as Trump’s protective detail remains on high alert following two assassination attempts on the former president.
Miller posted to his Instagram profile a picture with independent 2024 presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Vem Miller says he has more than 20 years of experience as an ‘investigative journalist, documentary filmmaker, and content producer’ who created the far-right website, America Happens.
Thousands showed up at a Trump campaign rally in Coachella, California on Saturday
The first came at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13 when gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, struck Trump in the right ear before being shot dead by the Secret Service.
The would-be killer killed one rally goer and critically wounded two others with a gun where he crouched a few hundred feet from where Trump spoke today.
Then just two months later on September 15, Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, was arrested in Florida when he fled the scene after the Secret Service opened fire on him.
Routh allegedly pointed the gun at Trump as he played golf at a club in West Palm Beach before the former president’s security detail saw the barrel of the firearm and thwarted a second assassination attempt.
