Vem Miller, gunman arrested near Trump rally, denies wanting to hurt ex-president: ‘Complete nonsense’

The armed suspect arrested on weapons charges on his way to Donald Trump’s rally in California denied the local sheriff’s claim that he wanted to kill the ex-president, calling the allegations “bullshit” on Sunday.

Vem Miller, 49, reportedly claimed he was a Trump supporter a day after he was handcuffed at a checkpoint near the Coachella Valley rally on Saturday afternoon – where sheriff’s deputies found a pair of guns and ammunition in his car found.

While Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco said he “truly believes” his deputies stopped a third assassination attempt against the Republican presidential candidate, Miller told the Southern California News Group on Sunday he was “shocked” by the allegations .

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

Miller, who tells The Post he is part of a far-right anti-government group, said he was invited to the rally by the chairman of the Clark County GOP Party and donned a Trump shirt and hat as he responded to authorities hit the checkpoint.

The weapons, a shotgun and a loaded handgun, were purchased in 2022 for personal protection, Miller told the local outlet.

He said he told officers he was carrying the firearms in his trunk as a courtesy before he was stopped and forced to exit the car. The car was then “searched” after an officer told him he wanted to ensure the weapons were legal purchases, he claimed.

Miller, a registered Republican who unsuccessfully ran for office in Nevada in 2022, also denied showing a fake press pass at the checkpoint — as the sheriff claimed — but instead offered a “special immigration pass,” the outlet reported.

The Last Vegas resident told the publication he was not informed why he was taken into custody and was only allowed to call a lawyer after hours of detention. He said he then recalled the incident as he stood in front of FBI and Secret Service agents who reportedly wanted to interview him.

Lawmakers later told Miller, who runs an organization that rails against the mainstream media, that the meeting with the government had been canceled, he claimed.

Miller was charged with illegal possession of a firearm and released on $5,000 bail. In his interview with the local publication, he said he was unaware of the difference between gun laws in California and his home state of Nevada.

He could face additional charges from federal law enforcement. However, the Secret Service considers it unlikely that Miller attempted to assassinate the 45th president, and the FBI is not investigating the matter as a whole, sources told the Post.

The Secret Service said Trump was not in danger during the rally.

“The U.S. Secret Service believes the incident had no impact on protective measures and former President Trump was not in danger,” the Secret Service and FBI said in a joint statement. “Although there has been no federal arrest at this time, the investigation remains ongoing.”

But Bianco, the local sheriff, said common sense and reason suggested the suspect had Trump in his sights.

“If you ask me now, I probably had helpers who prevented the third assassination attempt,” he said, adding that Miller had a supply of fake passports and driver’s licenses at the checkpoint.

Miller also allegedly had a fake license plate and was driving an unregistered vehicle.

Bianco also said the suspect claimed he was a journalist and had VIP access to the Trump event, but was unable to provide relevant documents.

“If we’re so lost politically that we’ve lost sight of common sense, reality and reason, we can’t say, ‘Holy shit, why did he show up with all that stuff and loaded guns?’ “And people will accuse me of being dramatic. We have a serious, serious problem in this country because that is common sense and common sense,” the sheriff said in response to a reporter’s question about whether his statements had been overly dramatic.

The Riverside top cop also accused Miller of being part of the so-called sovereign citizen movement, which does not believe in the government or laws, but Miller also strongly denied that, according to the Southern California News Group.

Trump has been the target of two confirmed assassination attempts in just three months.

The former president was hit in the ear by a bullet from gunman Matthew Thomas Crooks during a rally in Pennsylvania in July. And in September, Ryan Routh was accused of trying to kill the president when he hid with a gun on the edge of Trump’s golf course in Florida before the Secret Service discovered him.