Was a third (or fourth, if you count Iran's efforts) attempt on Donald Trump's life thwarted in Coachella, California on Saturday? Riverside County, California Sheriff Chad Bianco says the arrest of a Nevada man for illegal possession of a shogun, handgun, and "large capacity" magazine may have stopped an assassination attempt, though the arrestee claims he wasn't targeting Trump. 

A Las Vegas man was arrested with guns and fake I.D.s about a half mile from Trump’s campaign rally in Coachella Valley, Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco said Sunday. But while the sheriff called the arrest a thwarted assassination attempt, the man told a reporter he is a Trump supporter who bought the guns for his own safety and notified police at a checkpoint that they were in the trunk of his car.

Deputies assigned to Trump’s rally said the driver, Vem Miller, rolled up in a black SUV to a checkpoint at the intersection of Avenue 52 and Celebration Drive around 5 p.m. on Saturday. He was found to be in illegal possession of a shotgun, loaded handgun, and a high-capacity magazine, Bianco said. He added that Miller’s car had a fake license plate and was unregistered.

Bianco told the Southern California News Group on Sunday that he believes Miller — who he said is a member of a right-leaning anti-government group — planned to kill Trump and that deputies thwarted the plan when Miller presented a fake VIP pass at a checkpoint. He said they also found  he had multiple phony IDs.

“They were different enough to cause the deputies alarm,” Bianco said. “We probably stopped another assassination attempt.”

Miller, in an interview with Southern California News Group on Sunday, said he was “shocked” that he was arrested and accused of trying to harm Trump, who he supports.

“These accusations are complete bull—t,” Miller said. “I’m an artist, I’m the last person that would cause any violence and harm to anybody.”

Miller says he was invited to the Coachella rally by the head of the Clark County, Nevada GOP, though I've yet to see that confirmed. Miller also contends that he was the one who informed deputies about the weapons in his car, which he says he lawfully purchased two years. As for why he had the shotgun and handgun with him, Miller claims he was "unfamiliar" with the differences between California and Nevada law.

 Whether or not that's true, it's probably not going to help him from a legal perspective. 

At an afternoon news conference, Bianco said he didn’t care what Miller told a reporter, and that detaining and arresting him simply made for “common sense.”

“I knew that was going to happen. I couldn’t care less what political party he belongs to.” Bianco said. “Honestly, I think that’s the stupidest thing in the world that we have to label something and we’re labeling this as politics. He’s a lunatic.”

Miller was booked at the John J. Benoit Detention Center for possessing a loaded firearm and high-capacity magazine, authorities said.

He was released Saturday on $5,000 bail and is scheduled to appear at the Indio Larson Justice Center on Jan. 2, 2025, according to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department inmate database.

No offense to the sheriff, but if he believes that Miller is a "lunatic," why not use California's Welfare and Institutions Code to do a 5150 hold on the man? Under California law the sheriff could have involuntarily detailed Miller for 72 hours while a mental health check was performed, but there's no indication that Bianco took that step even though he proclaimed Miller is mentally ill. 

At the very least, it was an incredibly dumb idea for Miller to bring his guns into California while he was attending a Trump rally. According to California law, non-residents essentially lose access to their Second Amendment rights once they cross the state line. While the prohibition on non-resident carry is being challenged in court, as things stand right now there is no legal way for a non-resident to carry in California lawfully, and if Miller wasn't planning anything nefarious, he should have checked on the gun laws where he was before he left his house in Nevada.  If Miller was targeting Trump, on the other hand, he might well have decided to violate some of California's gun control laws so he could do something illegal in all 50 states: cold-blooded and premeditated murder.

I have no idea if Miller is telling the truth when he says he had no plans to attack Trump or anybody attending the rally in Coachella, but it's worth noting that the Trump campaign itself is not describing this as an assassination attempt. 

NEW: Sources close to the Trump campaign tell @FoxNews there was no assassination attempt against Trump at his Coachella, CA rally yesterday. We’re told a man with a gun was arrested at the perimeter of the event without incident.

— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) October 13, 2024

We'll have to wait and see if the Secret Service turns up any evidence that Miller was planning an attack, but his arrest is still a reminder that California's gun control laws prohibit almost all non-residents from lawfully carrying (with an exception for out-of-state law enforcement carrying under LEOSA). Even if they're not going anywhere near a campaign rally, it's still a bad idea for non-resident gun owners to think their right to keep and bear arms is recognized in California. Even an innocent mistake can result in criminal charges, and there's no guarantee that even a soft-on-crime prosecutor would go light on an out-of-state gun owner who thought the Second Amendment protected them.