‘Third assassination attempt’ on Trump thwarted: man with loaded firearms arrested near Coachella rally

“What we do know is he showed up with multiple passports with different names, an unregistered vehicle with a fake license plate, and loaded firearms,” Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco said at a news conference. “We know we prevented something bad from happening, and it was irrelevant what that bad was going to be.”

Miller was stopped in a black SUV by sheriff’s deputies around 5 pm local time, just before Trump took the stage at the rally in Coachella. He was arrested on suspicion of possessing a loaded firearm and a high-capacity magazine, the sheriff’s department stated.

The suspect managed to get past an outer security boundary but was stopped at an inner perimeter patrolled by the sheriff’s department, Bianco explained. He is scheduled to appear in court on January 2, 2025, according to online records.

“The incident did not impact the safety of former President Trump or attendees of the event,” the sheriff’s office said in a press release.

“The US Secret Service assesses that the incident did not impact protective operations and former President Trump was not in any danger,” the US Attorney’s Office stated on Sunday. While no federal arrest has been made, the investigation is ongoing.

Trump narrowly escaped an assassination attempt in July when a gunman’s bullet grazed his ear during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. In September, a Secret Service agent opened fire after spotting a gun barrel emerging from the bushes while Trump was golfing in Florida. The suspect, Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, fled but was later apprehended in his black Nissan and charged with possession of a firearm as a felon.