Armed suspect arrested at Trump rally insists he’s ‘an artist’ — not a would-be murderer | EUROtoday

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Vem Miller insists he’s completely not a would-be presidential murderer.

Rather, the 49-year-old twin US-Canadian citizen, who was arrested Saturday with a loaded handgun, shotgun, and a high-capacity journal within the parking space of a Trump rally in Coachella, California, is “but an artist,” he instructed The Independent.

Miller, a onetime journalist who has labored as a music video director and now runs a web site referred to as the America Happens Network — which options conspiracy-minded movies about 9/11 being “an inside job” and the “so-called” Covid-19 pandemic — mentioned he “was certainly not there to cause any harm to anybody.”

At a information convention on Sunday, Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco referred to as Miller a “lunatic” with “fringe” views, and claimed his arrest could have headed off a 3rd assassination try. But Trump was by no means in any hazard at Saturday’s rally, the Secret Service, FBI, and US Attorney’s Office mentioned in a joint assertion.

In July, Trump’s ear was bloodied after being grazed by a gunman’s bullet at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Last month, a suspected murderer was arrested lurking on the permiter of Trump’s golf membership in West Palm Beach, Florida, with a rifle whereas the previous president was taking part in.

Members of the Nevada GOP had invited Miller to attend the rally, the Las Vegas resident mentioned on Monday, rattling off his MAGA bona fides as proof he was not on the occasion with a plan to kill the Republican nominee. He described himself as a member of the Republican Party, a Trump caucus captain, and as of every week in the past, a Trump “team leader.”

“I gathered votes for [Trump] for the primary,” Miller mentioned in a voice message to The Independent. “… I’ve been embedded with the Trump people on countless occasions, hung out with the Trump sons, hung out with people that are integral and closely associated with the Trump campaign… If people want to actually learn more about me, they could watch the America Happens Network, where for over six years we’ve been producing pro-Trump content.”

For his half, Miller believes his work demonstrates a view that “art is the greatest weapon.”

“I am but an artist, and that’s the only thing I am,” Miller mentioned. “And in the spirit of that, the pen is always mightier than the sword, which is what I live by.”

Miller graduated from UCLA with a bachelor’s diploma in English and American literature, with a focus in inventive writing. He has written and produced documentaries for Vice, MTV, and different well-known retailers, then went out on his personal in 2022, his LinkedIn profile exhibits. Until he legally modified his title in 2022, Miller glided by Vem Yenovkian, and, for unclear causes, has additionally had a US passport below the title Vem Steinberg, in keeping with authorized filings posted on-line by freelance journalist Jackie Sweet.

Miller ran unsuccessfully in 2022 for a Nevada State Assembly seatpromoting himself as a “constitutional conservative Republican that is horrified at what is happening to this country.” On Instagram, Miller may be seen in photographs with comic and up to date right-wing convert Russell Brand, far-right activist James O’Keefe and also-ran third-party candidate-turned-Trump booster Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

According to Bianco, Miller tried to achieve VIP entry to Saturday’s rally by falsely claiming he was a member of the press. When he drove up, deputies flagged numerous “irregularities,” resembling a bogus license plate usually utilized by so-called “sovereign citizens” who consider, amongst different issues, that the federal authorities is illegitimate. A search of Miller’s automobile turned up the 2 firearms, plus a number of passports and drivers’ licenses in numerous names, Bianco mentioned.

In the early hours of Monday morning, Miller posted a rambling, hour-plus response to Bianco’s “lies” on Rumble, the YouTube different favored by the far-right, which he shared with The Independent.

Miller mentioned he was broadcasting from “a cheap motel room” someplace within the Coachella space, after being sprung from jail on a $5,000 bond. He emphasised his assist for Trump, claiming the previous president “is one of the only individuals that I’ve seen have the courage to actually stand up to this tyranny against ‘we the people.’”

Miller mentioned he arrived on the rally location on Saturday round 3 p.m., and was directed to an onsite parking zone. He had a shotgun and a Glock within the trunk, that are authorized in Nevada.

Miller mentioned he by no means owned any firearms till he started getting loss of life threats in 2022 over “the content [he] produced],” and bought a shotgun and a Glock semi-automatic for self-defense. He has been to Trump rallies with the weapons readily available, and mentioned he’s all the time certain to inform the law enforcement officials, “out of courtesy,” that, “My name is Vem Miller, I work closely with the Trump campaign and individuals within the Trump campaign, [and] I’m just letting you know that in the trunk of my car, I have two firearms.”

“I’m certainly not going to take these firearms into the actual rally location,” Miller mentioned, dancing across the notion of his being a sovereign citizen with out offering a straight reply.

Miller mentioned he did the identical when he arrived on the Coachella rally, solely this time, the deputies on responsibility “ransacked” his truck, searching for incriminating proof. Suddenly, he was in handcuffs and behind a squad automobile, Miller claimed, noting, once more, that he was “not there for anything nefarious.”

Sometime after 1 a.m., Miller mentioned he was launched from jail. He was at first “distraught” about having his mugshot taken, however mentioned he felt higher about it after remembering that Trump additionally has one. He plans on suing the officers behind his arrest, Miller mentioned.

“They literally created hundreds of millions of dollars of liability slandering my name as a potential assassin,” Miller’s video assertion concludes. “I mean, that is just absolutely insane. Absolutely insane… You know, since I started, I’ve always been a devout Christian. I’ve always tried to follow the path of Jesus Christ… I was never one for the money. But I certainly think that the mistakes these officers made in operating under the color of law… just made me an ungodly amount of money.”

Miller is scheduled to seem in courtroom on January 2.