LOS ANGELES (AP) — A Nevada man with a shotgun, loaded handgun, ammunition and a number of other pretend passports in his car was arrested at a safety checkpoint outdoors Donald Trump’s rally Saturday night time within the Southern California desert, authorities mentioned. He was launched the identical 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 mentioned at a information convention Sunday afternoon.
The driving force claimed to be a journalist but it surely was unclear if he had the right credentials. Deputies observed the inside of the car was “in disarray” and a search uncovered the weapons and ammo, together with a number of passports and driver licenses with totally different names, Bianco mentioned.
The person was arrested on suspicion of possessing a loaded firearm and possession of a high-capacity journal, the division mentioned in an announcement.
“This incident did not impact the safety of former President Trump or attendees of the event,” the Saturday assertion mentioned. Trump had not but arrived on the rally on the time of the arrest, the sheriff mentioned Sunday.
The suspect is scheduled to seem in courtroom on Jan. 2, 2025, in accordance with on-line information.
Bianco declined to invest concerning the suspect’s motives or state of mind. “We know we prevented something bad from happening, and it was irrelevant what that bad was going to be,” Bianco mentioned.
The person made it previous an outer safety boundary and was stopped at an internal perimeter patrolled by the sheriff’s division, Bianco mentioned. One other safety checkpoint nearer to the rally website was operated by the Secret Service.
“The U.S. Secret Service assesses that the incident did not impact protective operations and former President Trump was not in any danger,” the U.S. Lawyer’s Workplace mentioned in an announcement Sunday. “While no federal arrest has been made at this time, the investigation is ongoing.”
Media members, in addition to VIP ticket holders, have been routed by way of plenty of intersections manned by state and native regulation enforcement officers earlier than arriving at a big, grassy space the place drivers have been requested to open hoods and trunks, and every car was searched by a Ok-9 officer. Different basic ticket holders have been directed to a website roughly 3 miles away from the rally, the place they have been boarded onto buses and pushed to the positioning.
Trump’s marketing campaign didn’t instantly reply to a request for touch upon the arrest.
Safety may be very tight at Trump rallies following two current assassination makes an attempt. Final month, a person was indicted on an tried assassination cost after authorities mentioned he staked out the previous president for 12 hours and wrote of his need to kill him. The Florida arrest got here two months after Trump was shot and wounded within the ear in an assassination try throughout a marketing campaign rally in Pennsylvania.
Bianco declined to invest concerning the suspect’s motives or state of mind. “We know we prevented something bad from happening, and it was irrelevant what that bad was going to be,” Bianco mentioned.
The person made it previous an outer safety boundary and was stopped at an internal perimeter patrolled by the sheriff’s division, Bianco mentioned. One other safety checkpoint nearer to the rally website was operated by the Secret Service.
“The U.S. Secret Service assesses that the incident did not impact protective operations and former President Trump was not in any danger,” the U.S. Lawyer’s Workplace mentioned in an announcement Sunday. “While no federal arrest has been made at this time, the investigation is ongoing.”
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Media members, in addition to VIP ticket holders, have been routed by way of plenty of intersections manned by state and native regulation enforcement officers earlier than arriving at a big, grassy space the place drivers have been requested to open hoods and trunks, and every car was searched by a Ok-9 officer. Different basic ticket holders have been directed to a website roughly 3 miles away from the rally, the place they have been boarded onto buses and pushed to the positioning.
Trump’s marketing campaign didn’t instantly reply to a request for touch upon the arrest.
Safety may be very tight at Trump rallies following two current assassination makes an attempt. Final month, a person was indicted on an tried assassination cost after authorities mentioned he staked out the previous president for 12 hours and wrote of his need to kill him. The Florida arrest got here two months after Trump was shot and wounded within the ear in an assassination try throughout a marketing campaign rally in Pennsylvania.
