By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2024-10-17 17:21:22 | Updated at 2024-10-17 19:27:06
2 hours ago
Vem Miller accused the Riverside County Sheriff's Office of wanting to be 'heroes' by claiming they likely prevented a third assassination attempt on Donald Trump.
The 49-year-old Las Vegas man was arrested with two firearms outside of a Trump rally in Coachella, California on Saturday.
Miller tried to set the record straight, telling DailyMail.com that he was the one who notified law enforcement of the guns in his car before accessing the parking lot for the rally.
He also said Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco is only interested in being a 'media darling' as Miller increased the public war of words between the two.
And now the Trump fan claims he is facing 'death threats' and 'security issues' because people think he was trying to target the former president.
Vem Miller said he was the one who notified police that he had firearms in his vehicle outside the Coachella, California Donald Trump rally as he told DailyMail.com his side of the story
'What's coming out of the Sheriff's department is blatant lying, grandstanding – perhaps to get the attention of the media and look like some kind of heroes,' Miller alleged.
It comes after he filed a lawsuit claiming Sheriff Bianco defamed him by saying during a press conference and in media interviews that his department 'probably' stopped another plot against Trump by arresting Miller.
During a checkpoint stop outside Trump's Saturday event, Miller was found to have a shotgun, loaded handgun and high capacity magazine in his vehicle.
That coupled with other 'red flags' like a fake license plate and multiple IDs with different variations of his name led officers to question, detain and book Miller, Sheriff Biacno told DailyMail.com.
But Miller says he was the one who told police about the firearms – a self-identification law that is required in many states.
'I was never stopped,' Miller told DailyMail.com. 'This was not a discovery by them. I drove up to a (sic) officer before I was entering the parking lot, and I told him that I have two firearms.'
'I was the one that let the police officers know, out of common courtesy – this is something I do in Nevada all the time,' the Las Vegas native said. 'Before I drive into the parking lot, I let the officers know, hey, I have firearms in the back of the truck, just letting you know I'm going to park my car and then I'm going to walk to the rally.'
Miller says he has been to several Trump rallies, is a caucus captain in Nevada and is working with the campaign to get the Republican 2024 nominee reelected.
Miller claims that Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco wanted to be a 'media darling' by saying he 'probably' stopped a 'third assassination attempt' by arresting him. Pictured: Sheriff Bianco speaks at Trump's Coachella rally on Saturday
Vem Miller, 49, says he is facing death threats and is in an undisclosed location because his life is in danger ever since he was accused by Sheriff Bianco of plotting an assassination. Miller says he has more than 20 years of experience as 'an investigative journalist, documentary filmmaker, and a content producer.' He cofounded the fringe, far-right website America Happens
'All this stuff needs to be correctly stated, because right now there's a lot of untruths going on, and this is causing death threats against me. This is causing security issues against me,' Miller claimed.
'I'm currently in an undisclosed location for safety until I see what is going on. And so those are the facts, and they're backed up by the evidence, 100 percent.'
After it was revealed that Miller is suing Bianco on Wednesday, the Sheriff told DailyMail.com he found the whole ordeal 'odd.'
'Probably the fastest lawsuit filed in history; the next business day,' Bianco said when asked about the swiftness of the suit.
'One could argue it was already prepared and planned,' he added. 'It just gets more odd.'
But said that he took legal action so quickly because he is concerned his life is at risk if his name isn't cleared.
'The reason why this thing was filed so quickly [is] because, you know, as a result of what's happened, my life is in danger now,' Miller said.
Riverside Bianco told DailyMail.com it's 'odd' to him that Vem Miller filed a lawsuit so quickly after it was revealed Wednesday the gunman is suing for defamation
'I've been told by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department that because of some of these headline readers that haven't discovered that this thing's entirely a fraud, there could be some mentally imbalanced individuals that would do something – like almost like the Lee Harvey Oswald-Jack Ruby situation, where I'm potentially killed by an individual as a way of somebody who might be mentally unstable to protect Donald Trump,' he explained.
'And so I've been told that it's best for me to be in the jurisdiction of Las Vegas, to be protected by Las Vegas Metropolitan Police because they don't want me to be assassinated,' he continued. 'Especially after it's pretty clear cut that everything I'm saying is true, and really the criminal behavior here is coming from Sheriff Bianco's department, who is grossly incompetent and did this very unfortunate and damaging thing.'
The Sheriff speculated that the whole ordeal involving Miller is 'staged,' because he doesn't understand why others aren't seeing the suspicion surrounding Miller's actions before the rally and the 'red flags' he says led to his ultimate arrest.
