Vem Miller strongly denied planning to assassinate the former president in an interview Sunday with the Press Enterprise.
Authorities investigating the armed man arrested Saturday outside a Trump rally in Coachella have found no evidence so far that he was planning an assassination attempt.
Federal officials continue to investigate, but the man remains free on $5,000 bail and the sources say so far the focus remains on the gun possession charge that led to his arrest on Saturday.
Vem Miller, 49, of Las Vegas was booked at the John J. Benoit Detention Center in Indio on suspicion of possessing loaded firearms, Riverside County sheriff’s officials said. He has since been released on bail pending a court appearance.
Deputies found the guns after searching Miller’s black SUV at a checkpoint at Avenue 52 and Celebration Drive in Coachella about 5 p.m. Saturday, authorities said.
At a news conference Sunday, Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco said his deputies had likely thwarted an assassination attempt, although he acknowledged “there is absolutely no way any of us are going to truly know what’s in [the suspect’s] head.”
But sources who spoke to The Times on the condition of anonymity said they have uncovered no evidence showing Miller intended to harm the president. They stressed that the investigation remains ongoing and more facts could come in.
Asked whether he was speculating by branding Miller a would-be assassin, Bianco said it was “common sense” to suspect that someone carrying guns and fake identification to a political rally intended to hurt people. But the sheriff offered no evidence of an assassination plot.
Miller told Fox News he supported Trump and had no intentions to harm him.
“I always travel around with my firearms in the back of my truck,” Miller told the network. “I’ve literally never even shot a gun in my life.”
He said he was there to cover the rally as a journalist.
