What we know about Vem Miller, charged with gun possession near Trump rally

A Las Vegas man was arrested with loaded firearms, multiple passports bearing different names and an unregistered vehicle at a checkpoint ahead of a rally by former President Donald Trump in southern California on Saturday, officials said.

Vem Miller, 49, was stopped by deputies assigned to Trump’s rally at a checkpoint in the Coachella Valley, and found to be carrying a shotgun, a loaded handgun, and a high-capacity magazine, authorities said.

Trump was never in danger, the Secret Service, the FBI and the U.S. attorney's office said in a joint statement.

The arrest comes after two assassination attempts against Trump, the Republican presidential nominee. Ryan Wesley Routh was charged in September with attempting to assassinate Trump after he was found with a high-powered rifle outside Trump International Golf Club in Palm Beach. Routh has pleaded not guilty.

And Trump narrowly escaped death when he was shot in the ear by Thomas Matthew Crooks on July 13 at a rally near Butler, Pennsylvania. One attendee, Corey Comperatore, was killed and two others were critically injured. Secret Service counter-sniper agents killed Crooks.

Who is Vem Miller?

Miller is a registered Republican who holds a master’s degree from University of California, Los Angeles, according to the Southern California News Group. He ran for state Assembly in Nevada in 2022, but lost his primary.

In 2022, Miller told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that he was running for office because “this country has been taken over by tyranny.” Miller also said he would focus on alleged voter fraud, the Review-Journal reported.

Miller, a film and TV industry professional, hosts a podcast called “Blood Money” on the American Happens Network. Miller is the founder of the network. The podcast focuses on “topics of corruption, controversy and conspiracy - topics the Mainstream media will not touch,” the podcast webpage said.

Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco on Sunday said Miller’s vehicle, was unregistered and had a homemade license plate, a practice used by members of the far-right sovereign citizens movement.

What was he charged with?

Local officials charged Miller with possession of a loaded firearm and high-capacity magazine.

He does not face federal charges, the Secret Service said in a statement Sunday.

Was Vem Miller freed on bail?

Miller was booked at the John J. Benoit Detention Center in Indio, Calif. He was released on Saturday on $5,000 bail, according to the office's records. The terms of his bail were not immediately available.

He was scheduled to appear at the Indio Larson Justice Center on Jan. 2, according to the department’s inmate database.

Bianco said Sunday that local law enforcement had an outer and inner security perimeter. The outside perimeter was to allow people who belonged in the area to pass. The inside perimeter was to guide people in the right direction of where they were going. Miller made contact with local deputies at a checkpoint in the inner perimeter, Bianco said.

Was Trump at the rally?

Miller's arrest was made before Trump got to the rally, Bianco said Sunday.

The Secret Service in their statement said it "assess that the incident did not impact protective operations and former President Trump was not in any danger."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: What we know: Vem Miller, man charged with firearms near Trump rally