After a shooter posing as a VIP presented false identification and was apprehended, a third attempt to kill Donald Trump has been thwarted.
Vem Miller, 49, was detained at a checkpoint on Saturday before the former president’s rally in Coachella, California.
“This incident did not impact the safety of former President Trump or attendees of the event,” the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office insisted in a statement.
However, Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco added: “We probably stopped another assassination attempt.”
Officers at the checkpoint searched after Miller reportedly produced phoney press and VIP passes.
Upon searching his black SUV, it was discovered that he had an illegal handgun and ammo.
For each of the two misdemeanours Miller was charged with, a £10,000 bail was granted when he was placed into the John Benoit Detention Centre.
Although he was freed from detention on Sunday, he is scheduled to appear before the Indio Larson Justice Centre on January 2.
Officers emphasised that neither Trump’s safety nor the safety of any other attendees in California was affected by the incident.
A heckler was also taken out of the event during the former president’s speech in the state with a high concentration of Democrats.
However, the alleged assassination attempt comes after 20-year-old shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks struck Trump in the ear before being shot dead by the Secret Service in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13.
After trying to leave the scene on September 15, Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, was taken into custody by Secret Service agents who opened shots at him for reportedly pointing a rifle at Trump while the former president was playing golf.
Amid fears of an attempted assassination, Trump, who is reducing Kamala Harris’ advantage before November 5, is allegedly asking for more enhanced protection.
Amid worries over an attempted assassination attempt on behalf of Iran, Trump—who is allegedly asking for more heightened security—is trying to close the gap with Kamala Harris before November 5.
Trump’s campaign manager, Susie Wiles, is said to have sent an email to Ronald L. Rowe Jr., the chief of the Secret Service, complaining about how the organisation was managing security.
Wiles went so far as to say that Trump’s “lack of personnel” forced him to postpone a campaign rally.