Vem Miller (Mirror)
Law-enforcement officials near Coachella, CA, say deputies probably prevented a third assassination attempt against Donald Trump when they arrested a man on firearms charges as Trump was preparing to speak at a rally in the area. Under the headline "US sheriff says ‘probably prevented’ third Trump assassination attempt; Suspect faces firearms charges but denies he tried to harm former US president and Republican candidate," Al Jazeera reports:
A United States sheriff has said law enforcement officers likely prevented a third assassination attempt against Donald Trump after a man was arrested with unregistered firearms near the Republican candidate’s California campaign rally over the weekend.
Speaking to reporters on Sunday afternoon, Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco said deputies stopped the man at a security perimeter outside the former president’s event in the city of Coachella a day earlier.
Bianco said the suspect “showed up with multiple passports with different names, an unregistered vehicle with [a] fake license plate, and loaded firearms”.
“If you’re asking me right now, I probably did have deputies that prevented the third assassination attempt,” the sheriff told reporters.
The man, identified as 49-year-old Nevada resident Vem Miller, was taken into custody without incident, the sheriff’s office said in a statement earlier in the day.
Miller faces gun charges after he was found in possession of two guns and a high-capacity magazine, authorities said. He was released on bail and is scheduled to appear in court on January 2, 2025.
Miller said he had no intention of harming Trump, the former president and the Republican nominee in the 2024 race: From the Al Jazeera report:
In an interview with Southern California News Group, Miller – who said he is a Trump supporter – denied trying to harm the former president.
“These accusations are complete bulls**t,” Miller said. “I’m an artist, I’m the last person that would cause any violence and harm to anybody.”
Trump’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press news agency on the arrest.
“The US Secret Service assesses that the incident did not impact protective operations and former President Trump was not in any danger,” the US Attorney’s Office said in a statement on Sunday. “While no federal arrest has been made at this time, the investigation is ongoing.”
The first alleged assassination attempt against Trump came on July 13 in Butler, PA. The second was on Sept. 16 at Trump's golf course near West Palm Beach, FL. The third, which has yet to be classified as an assassination attempt, was on Oct. 12 in Coachella, CA. That makes three possible assassination attempts against one presidential candidate in a 64-day time period.
Does that sound peculiar to you? It sure does to me. Has such a series of events ever happened to another presidential candidate in U.S. history? I don't remember one, and my research has turned up nothing. It seems that about every 21 days -- when Trump's poll numbers are declining (which they are), or his fund-raising is sinking (and it is, especially among small donors) -- another assassination story seems to pop up in the news, prompting some supporters to respond with empathy, enhanced donations, or heightened determination to support their guy at the voting booth. Some even suggest Trump is protected by divine intervention, a narrative Trump seems in no hurry to tamp down. This odd situation -- and there are other oddities we will address in future posts -- suggests to me that the alleged gunmen fingered by law-enforcement did not act alone. As for the latest polling and fund-raising trends, Nate Silver's average of 20 polls between Oct. 4-8 shows Harris leading Trump nationally 48.5% to 46.1%. It also shows Harris took the lead on about Oct. 1, and it has steadily grown -- although the race remains tight -- until it reached 2.4% on Oct. 13. Here is more from Al Jazeera:
The incident comes just weeks after authorities in late September charged a man with attempting to assassinate Trump at his Florida golf course.
Prosecutors have accused Ryan Wesley Routh of intending to kill the former president as he golfed at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach on September 15.
Routh has pleaded not guilty to the charges against him.
The arrest in Florida marked the second apparent assassination attempt against Trump in the past few months. In July, he was shot in the ear after a gunman opened fire at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania.
That shooting prompted fierce criticism and questions about the security protocols that were put in place for the event.