Vem Miller was lunatic for thinking he could come to a Donald Trump rally with several major red flags, including a fake license plate, multiple IDs with variations of his name and two firearms.
Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco doubled-down in an interview with DailyMail.com the conditions that led him to think Miller could have been plotting something nefarious for Trumps Saturday rally.
Miller, 49, was arrested by Biancos department outside Trumps Coachella event when a shotgun, loaded handgun and a high-capacity magazine were discovered in his vehicle during a checkpoint stop.
After posting $10,000 bail, the Las Vegas resident was released from custody.
Bianco immediately said that his officers helped probably prevent a third assassination attempt on the former president by catching Miller.
Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco told DailyMail.com that there were several red flags that led to Vem Millers car search and arrest outside a Trump rally on Saturday
But the sheriff caught a slew of backlash online for this comment with many claiming it was too serious a claim to be throwing around.
I dont know how – maybe Im not explaining it right or something, Sheriff Bianco told DailyMail.com. But those are major, major, major red flags.
Thats not normal, he insisted. A normal person doesnt show up at a Trump event knowing the security, the heightened security thats going to be there with all of those different issues and loaded weapons. It makes no sense.
After reports emerged that Bianco called Miller a lunatic, he doubled-down.
Anyone that thinks that thats okay has got to be a lunatic, he said. There is no one with any common sense or reason that can believe that its okay to show up with a fake license plate on an unregistered vehicle, with multiple forms of identification and loaded weapons. This is bizarre to me, that that could even be, that anyone in the right mind could say, Oh, thats okay.
Miller has defended himself in a video posted to Rumble and when speaking with right-wing media personalities and outlets.
Vem Miller, 49, was arrested Saturday near Donald Trumps rally in Coachella, California after firearms and high capacity magazines were discovered in his car during a checkpoint search
At his outdoor rallies, Trump speaks behind a perimeter of bullet proof glass ever since the assassination attempt against him in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13. Pictured: Trump at his Coachella, California rally on October 12, 2024
My position is that a normal person doing nothing wrong doesnt show up with all of the red flags that he did and try to get into that event, Bianco said. So could we have probably saved a third assassination attempt? I do believe so, because we all have absolutely no way of getting in the head of what is in his head, of what his intentions were.
And now hes out of custody – and of course, hes going to say whatever it is he feels he needs to say, especially to deny it, he added. I mean, I dont hold that against him. I mean that that would be normal to me, also.
So Im, I certainly am going to stand by what I said, the Sheriff insisted.
Miller was charged with two illegal possession of firearms offenses and posted $5,000 bail for each charge.
He has a court date set for early January.