Sheriff advocates for lax bail laws in California after armed Trump rally suspect released: 'Hard to believe'

A California sheriff said he believes his officers may have foiled a third assassination attempt on former President Trump shortly before his Coachella rally over the weekend, while citing the state's more lenient laws following the suspect's quick release.

19-year-old Vem Miller was arrested after authorities found multiple weapons and passports in his vehicle at a checkpoint Trump's Coachella rally Saturday evening.

Although Miller denied in an interview with Fox News Digital that he was trying to cause harm, Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco told “FOX & Friends” that law enforcement may have foiled another attempt on the former president's life .

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“Do you think you may have prevented a third assassination attempt?” Brian Kilmeade asked Bianco on Monday.

“In our minds we did it. That's what we were set up there for. We were set up to stop and prevent anyone from entering the premises as happened last time… and it worked,” he replied. “There's a lot of speculation that … he's just an innocent person, and he could be.”

“But of the…between 25 and 50, depending on the numbers you hear, a thousand people who came to the rally, only one brought weapons,” he continued. “So…we were grateful that our deputy found him and he was removed before the president even got there.”

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump arrives to speak at a campaign rally at Calhoun Ranch on Saturday, October 12, 2024, in Coachella, California. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Bianco said during a news conference Sunday that Miller approached the outdoor area at the intersection in a black SUV 52 Avenue and Celebration Drive just before 5 p.m. and gave every indication that he belonged there and was allowed into the VIP area of ​​the rally.

The officers thoroughly examined the arriving vehicles and immediately noticed some irregularities on Miller's part.

“It's a very chaotic scene with people trying to get in and vehicles coming in and the president on his way there,” Bianco said. “The original deputy who stopped him and spoke to him and noticed all of these things and ultimately obtained his consent to search the vehicle found all of these items. So if he hadn't had that encounter with that deputy, he certainly would have been there. Because of where he most likely would have ended up, he was probably just a few hundred feet away, a few hundred feet from the stage where President Trump was finally found.

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“But that’s all…speculation,” he continued. “We don’t know because we did our job and prevented him from entering the premises in the first place.”

During the investigation, Bianco said the deputy found multiple passports with multiple names and multiple driver's licenses with different names, the vehicle was unregistered and the license plate was “what we would recognize in law enforcement as a homemade plate indicative of a group.” “. by individuals who claimed to be “sovereign citizens.”

Sovereign citizens believe that they are not subject to the jurisdiction of the federal government and consider themselves exempt from U.S. law. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, they use a variety of conspiracy theories and falsehoods to justify their beliefs and activities, some of which are illegal and violent.

Officials said Miller was taken into custody without incident and later booked at the John J. Benoit Detention Center on charges of possession of a loaded firearm and possession of a high capacity magazine.

Despite continued confusion surrounding the incident, Miller was released shortly afterwards.

“It's probably hard for the rest of the country to believe that people we arrest don't stay in prison, but that's a fact here in California,” Bianco said. “The crimes we arrested him for were misdemeanors and we do not detain misdemeanors, so he was issued a citation to appear at a later date.”

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“We have been struggling with poor law enforcement policies in California for decades, and unfortunately now the whole world is seeing it,” he continued.

Bianco said the former president and rally participants were never in danger during the incident.

“Fortunately for (Miller), unfortunately for us in California, we can only charge him on the weapons charges, and it's a misdemeanor,” Bianco said. “It is a sad fact that we cannot hold misdemeanors in prison… They are released with a citation. So I think he actually went to prison. He was charged, but I think he was only there for four to six hours and then quoted and published.”

“The ultimate goal was to stop him from getting in and then get him away from the event so the event was safe. The participants were safe. Our former president was safe,” he continued.

Miller denied that his intention was to harm the former president.

“These allegations are complete nonsense,” he said. “I am an artist, I am the last person who would cause violence and harm to anyone.”

Sources close to the Trump campaign told Fox News' Bill Melugin and Bryan Preston that they do not believe this was an assassination attempt on Trump.

Fox News' Stepheny Price and Bryan Preson contributed to this report.

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