A 49-year-old Las Vegas man was arrested near former President Donald Trump’s rally in Coachella on Saturday with a loaded firearm and a high-capacity magazine, the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department said Sunday.

Deputies assigned to the rally contacted the driver of a black SUV at a checkpoint near the intersection of Avenue 52 and Celebration Drive just before 5 p.m. Saturday, sheriff’s officials said.

They allegedly found the driver in possession of a shotgun, a loaded handgun and a high-capacity magazine. The driver was identified as Vem Miller, and was taken into custody and later booked at the John J. Benoit Detention Center on suspicion of possessing a loaded firearm and possessing a high-capacity magazine.

  • Bluefalcon
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    1 month ago

    I would be interested to see what information comes out on this one. A shotgun and handgun isn’t going to do shit for an assassination attempt. Unless you are Gavrilo Princip.

    • Chozo@fedia.io
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      1 month ago

      I dunno, a homemade shotgun worked well enough on Shinzo Abe.

      • meco03211@lemmy.world
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        1 month ago

        He also was able to get much closer to Abe because guns are illegal in Japan. This gave the assassin a number of avenues of cover. It was a makeshift weapon so didn’t really look like a gun, it wasn’t easy for security to identify it as a gun, and the lack of guns added to the sense of security allowing people to be closer to Abe.

    • slickgoat@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      Handguns did the job on Ronald Reagan and almost for Gerald Ford.

      Leaving Abe Lincoln to one side, but if you are lucky and your security detail is a bit lax, a handgun can get the job done. I’m Australian, so we don’t see much of that sort of thing.

      • Bluefalcon
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        1 month ago

        Lincoln completely different story. Doesn’t count.

        Garfield shot by a walk up, McKinley, Reagan; all same.

        Jackson one failed, T. Roosevelt one failed, F. D. Roosevelt one miss, Ford two (nothing chambered, to slow),

        Bush one shoe and some “cat like reflects.” Also a handkerchief almost got his ass.

        That is it. U.S. history over the last 248 years.

        A Nevada man with a shotgun, loaded handgun, ammunition and several fake passports in his vehicle was arrested at a security checkpoint outside Donald Trump’s rally Saturday night in the Southern California desert, authorities said. He was released the same day on $5,000 bail.

        The suspect, a 49-year-old resident of Las Vegas, was driving an unregistered black SUV with a “homemade” license plate that was stopped by deputies assigned to the rally in Coachella, east of Los Angeles, Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco said at a news conference Sunday afternoon.

        I wonder how they spotted him?

        https://apnews.com/article/trump-rally-arrest-coachella-california-282a384e3fae256352c685174a3a74f4

        https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_presidential_assassination_attempts_and_plots

        • slickgoat@lemmy.world
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          1 month ago

          You seem to be implying that handguns don’t count even though it has happened, or actual attempts, multiple times. Ok…?

          • Bluefalcon
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            1 month ago

            I’m saying serious attempts in 2024 won’t be a close range weapon. Back in the 1800s or early 1900s it was an option. The wiki is a very interesting read. Hell Reagan almost died from a horrible shot that got luck.

    • RedditRefugee69@lemmynsfw.com
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      1 month ago

      Anyone who knows anything about direct action knows that backups are mandatory and it’s hard to carry several long guns.

      • Bluefalcon
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        1 month ago

        You’re not walking into a presidential rally with short to medium range weapon, definitionally after two assassinations.

        Feels more like a dumbass forgot to remove their weapons or “it doesn’t apply to me” person. I would actually like to see someone look up how often this happens outside this year.

        • jonne@infosec.pub
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          1 month ago

          Yeah, this was never going to work with how they stepped up security now. He’s got a giant bulletproof glass pane in front of him now, and they’ve probably expanded the security perimeter.

          The guy that tried to get him while golfing probably had a better strategy, but it seems to me none of those ever thought things true.

        • kent_eh@lemmy.ca
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          1 month ago

          You’re not walking into a presidential rally with short to medium range weapon,

          If you believe the conspiracy theories saying the secret service is either farcically incompetent or actively turning a blind eye to assassination attempts, then you might actually think you can.

          • Bluefalcon
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            1 month ago

            There is incompetency with secret service, just like every job.

            The first assassination attempt they identified the shoots spot beforehand. Someone chose to go ahead anyway and not secure the location.

            The second one was a mixture of Trump’s ignorance and location. However, secret service found the guy before Trump was anywhere near.

            This one was once again caught before he got anywhere near Trump. So it sounds like secret service is doing much better.