A man with a loaded handgun, shotgun and high-capacity magazine was arrested outside of the site where former President Donald Trump addressed supporters this weekend, police announced Sunday.
The Riverside County Sheriff's office identified the man who was arrested Saturday as Vem Miller, a 49-year-old resident of Las Vegas, Nevada. Miller was arrested at a checkpoint "without incident" and booked into the John J. Benoit Detention Center for possession of a loaded firearm and a high-capacity magazine.
Police said the incident did not impact Trump's safety or the safety of rallygoers. Riverside Sheriff Chad Bianco is expected to address reporters Sunday evening.
The local Riverside Press-Enterprise newspaper reported that Miller was in possession of fake VIP and press passes, adding that he was taken into custody about a half-mile from the rally site.
It quoted Bianco as saying that Miller is a member of a right-wing anti-government group and that he planned to kill Trump.
The passes, Bianco said, "were different enough to cause the deputies alarm."
"We probably stopped another assassination attempt," he said. "I thought it's not going to happen in Riverside County. We don't have the same sicko issues and violent protests like they have in Los Angeles. We're better than that. Go figure."
Riverside is a comparatively smaller city located east of Los Angeles.
