Vem Miller, a resident of Las Vegas, was arrested outside President Trump’s Coachella rally last weekend and has since filed a defamation lawsuit against Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco. This lawsuit arises from Bianco’s initial assertions that Miller’s arrest might have prevented a third assassination attempt on Trump.
Miller, 49, was detained at a checkpoint near the rally where two firearms and a high-capacity magazine were found in his vehicle. He faced misdemeanor charges and was later released on a $5,000 bail. Additionally, he was accused of carrying counterfeit VIP and press passes for the event. Miller refutes these claims, asserting that his firearms were legally owned and that he routinely informs law enforcement about them when attending Trump rallies. He admitted that his “critical mistake” was forgetting that California’s gun laws are significantly stricter than those in Nevada, his home state.
Following the arrest, Sheriff Bianco initially suggested that Miller might have had intentions to assassinate the former president. In a message to The Epoch Times, Bianco stated, “We arrested a man trying to get in the perimeter with two firearms who ended up saying he was going to kill the president.” However, he later retracted this statement, indicating that while there was no concrete evidence of an assassination plot, the arrest could have “prevented” another attempt on Trump’s life.
Miller’s defamation lawsuit, filed after his release, claims that Bianco fabricated the assassination narrative to portray himself as a “heroic” sheriff. The lawsuit also points out that neither the U.S. Secret Service nor the FBI considered Miller a threat and chose not to interview him following the arrest.
Miller clarified that carrying firearms was part of his usual practice when attending Trump rallies and dismissed the allegations regarding fake passes as “complete nonsense.” He has initiated the lawsuit in response to what he views as a smear campaign aimed at tarnishing his reputation.
For more information, see the full report from KABC
