The man described by US police as the latest potential assassin to target former President Donald Trump has denied all allegations and criminal charges against him. Vem Miller, who Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco claimed is potentially the third suspect since July to attempt to kill the Republican nominee, says he is in fact “all in” for Trump.
Miller, 49, was arrested on Saturday at a checkpoint outside a Trump rally venue in Coachella, California. He was carrying an illegally owned shotgun, a loaded handgun, and a high-capacity magazine, according to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office. Sheriff Bianco claimed that officers had “probably stopped another assassination attempt” against Trump.
Miller was charged with illegal firearms possession and released on $5,000 bail, with a court hearing pending in January. However, in an interview with Fox News Digital, he maintained that he owned his weapons legally and did not have any fake IDs, contrary to what state officials had said.
“I always travel around with my firearms in the back of my truck,” the Las Vegas resident said, as quoted by the news network on Sunday.
Miller claimed he bought the arms after receiving death threats in connection with his work in the media, but never learned how to use them.
“I’ve literally never even shot a gun in my life,” Miller stated. “I don’t know anything about guns. I am beyond a novice.”
He also said there was confusion about his papers because he is Armenian, and that his documents list different versions of his name. Being identified as Armenian could get you killed in some parts of the world, he alleged.
He denied being a “sovereign citizen” – a loose collective of people who believe that the government cannot legally exercise authority over them – and described the name as “nonsensical.”
Miller said he once voted for Barack Obama but has since switched affiliation to the Republican Party. He called himself “100% a Trump supporter” who has been “all-in” for the former president since 2018.
The Trump campaign is skeptical that Miller had any intention of harming its candidate, Fox reported, citing insider sources.
Trump has survived two assassination attempts in this election cycle. In July, he was wounded in his ear when a shooter opened fire at a campaign rally in Buttler, Pennsylvania. The gunman killed one person and injured several others, before being taken out by a sniper.
Last month, a man was spooked by Trump’s Secret Service detail while lying in wait at the Republican candidate’s golf course in West Palm Beach, Florida. The man was arrested and identified as Ryan Wesley Routh, a pro-Kiev activist previously involved in a scheme to recruit former Afghan commandos to fight in the Ukraine conflict.