Posted on: October 15, 2024, 05:36h.
Last updated on: October 15, 2024, 05:36h.
The Las Vegas man who was apprehended over the weekend at a pro-Donald Trump rally in Coachella, California is proclaiming his innocence this week despite weapons charges.
Vem Miller, 49, who runs a “Veterans in Politics” podcast, was arrested on Saturday after deputies located firearms and ammo in a car he was driving. He faces two misdemeanors and initially was suspected of an assassination attempt.
As far as what took place this weekend, the allegations made by the sheriff and the deputy are false,” Miller told Las Vegas TV station KTNV. “The only thing that happened is what I do when I go to all these rallies, which is to … let police know I’m carrying, lawfully, firearms in my trunk.”
He didn’t realize gun laws in California’s Riverside County are different from those in Nevada.
Officers charged him after the magazine of his gun was in the chamber and a barrel was improperly on his gun, Miller told KTNV.
He carries the weapons because people have made death threats against him, Miller revealed.
He’s also expecting to bring a case to court in an effort to clear his name.
Miller Loves Trump
Also, Steve Sanson, a Las Vegas resident who serves as president of Veterans In Politics International, further told KTNV that, “Miller loves President Trump.”
He has canvassed for him. He is one of the canvas captains. He was invited by the Trump team to come to California,” Sanson added.
“In California, you have to separate the magazine from the weapon to be in the vehicle legally. In Nevada, the magazine can be in the weapon. That was the only thing he did wrong.”
The car Miller was driving is owned by his parents, according to Sanson. He may not have realized it was unregistered. Miller had multiple IDs in the car because he changed his name when he ran for political office, Sanson added.
Sheriff Defends Deputies
But Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco said his deputies actually may have halted an attempted assassination against Trump by apprehending Miller.
A sheriff’s deputy “found multiple passports with multiple names, multiple driver’s licenses with different names, the vehicle was unregistered, and the license plate was what we in law enforcement would recognize as one that is homemade and indicative of a group of individuals that claim to be sovereign citizens,” Bianco said in a statement.
There is absolutely no way that any of us are going to truly know what was in his head,” Bianco added. “I can tell you that none of the other probably 50,000 people that showed up for that event brought multiple passports with different names and guns. I am glad that we’re not talking about this after we shot him.”
In recent weeks, there have been two assassination attempts on Trump’s life. In one of them Trump suffered a wounded ear.