Man With 2 Guns, Fake Passport Held Outside Donald Trump's Rally In California
A man was arrested outside Donald Trump's rally in California for illegal possession of firearms and multiple passports.
A man was arrested outside Donald Trump's rally on Saturday in California for illegal possession of a shotgun and a loaded handgun, said the police.
The deputies stopped the 49-year-old suspect, Vem Miller at a security checkpoint who was driving a black SUV and located the two firearms and a "high-capacity magazine", reported BBC.
The US Secret Service said Trump "was not in any danger" and added that the incident did not impact protective operations. The office of a local sheriff said the encounter did not affect the safety of Trump or the attendees of the rally.
Multiple passports with multiple names and multiple driving licenses were also found in the car, said Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco. The car's license plate was also "home-made" and not registered.
Miller was taken into custody "without incident", said the Sheriff's office. The suspect was booked for possession of a loaded firearm and a high-capacity magazine.
Bianco said Miller told authorities he was a member of the far-right group called Sovereign Citizens. His license plate was also "indicative of a group of individuals that claim to be Sovereign Citizens", he said, adding that he had not concluded the suspect to be a member of the outfit.
"I wouldn't say it's a militant group. It's just a group that doesn't believe in government and government control," he said. "They don't believe that government and laws apply to them."
Bianco said he "truly believed" that his officers prevented a third assassination attempt while adding that it was impossible to speculate about what was in the mind of the suspect.
He further said it was impossible to prove that this was the man's intent. An official from the federal law enforcement office told CBS News there was no indication of an assassination attempt connected to the incident.
Investigation into the incident is still underway, said the federal authorities who said that it would be up to them to pursue any additional charges.
The incident took place an hour before Trump was scheduled to appear on stage and follows two high-profile alleged assassination attempts earlier this year.
Miller was charged with two misdemeanour weapons charges and was released on a $5,000 bail. No federal charges have been filed.
Addressing a police news conference, Bianco warned he might not be able to "give all of the information... because of what we're doing".
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