Inset: Vem Miller (News Nation). Background: Donald Trump speaking at his campaign rally in Coachella, California (Forbes).
The 49-year-old Nevada man who was arrested at Donald Trump’s California rally on Saturday while carrying two loaded firearms has filed a federal lawsuit claiming the county and sheriff violated his constitutional rights and publicly lied about the incident when authorities said they had stopped him from attempting to assassinate the former president.
Vem Miller on Tuesday filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for Nevada in which he names Riverside County, the sheriff’s office, and Sheriff Chad Bianco as defendants. Among the causes of action for seeking damages, Miller alleges he was subjected to deprivation of his civil rights, intentional infliction of emotional distress, defamation, and false light invasion of privacy.
Miller, who was charged with one misdemeanor count each of possession of a loaded firearm and possession of a high-capacity magazine, says he is a “staunch supporter” of Trump and a Republican candidate for the Nevada Assembly who had no intention of harming the former president.
In a news release, the sheriff’s office said that at about 5 p.m. on Oct. 12, deputies assigned to Trump’s rally in Coachella Valley stopped Miller at a checkpoint and found him to be “illegally in possession of a shotgun, a loaded handgun, and a high-capacity magazine.”
In a subsequent news conference, Bianco said that he “probably did have deputies that prevented a third assassination attempt” against Trump.
Miller says that the sheriff’s has merely been perpetuating a “delusional and false narrative.”
In the filed complaint, Miller claims that he was attempting to enter a parking lot about half a mile from the rally venue when he informed a deputy guarding the area that he had two firearms in his vehicle, both of which he intended to leave inside of his parked vehicle. Miller says he was almost immediately handcuffed and placed into the back of a patrol vehicle.
Despite not receiving permission to look inside the vehicle, Miller says deputies then “proceeded to conduct an unlawful and unconstitutional search of all compartments of the vehicle, retrieving Miller’s personal documentation and other personal items.”
Miller alleges that Sheriff Bianco — who is also an avid Trump supporter — then began making false and defamatory claims about the incident.
“Immediately after Miller’s arrest, Defendant Bianco did not miss an opportunity to fabricate allegations against Miller, going on numerous news outlets, claiming to have thwarted a third assassination attempt against Presidential Candidate Donald J. Trump,” the complaint states. “Defendant Bianco, knew that Miller was not charged with any wrongdoing concerning assassination attempts, and that United States Secret Service and FBI agents even declined to interview him. It became clear that Bianco, intentionally, maliciously and with a blatant disregard for the truth, wanted to create a narrative so as to be viewed as a ‘heroic’ Sheriff who saved Presidential candidate Trump from a third assassination attempt.”
The complaint further claims that the sheriff made “preposterous allegations” against Miller, including that he was in possession of multiple fake passports and driver’s licenses, was driving an unregistered vehicle with fake plates, and presented authorities with “a fake VIP and press passes.”
The suit states that the latter claim is the “most egregious” because Miller “was actually provided expedited special entry passes by the Trump 47 campaign directly.”
Miller’s Instagram page shows him posing in photos with multiple Trump-aligned figures such as Stephen Miller, Newt Gingrich, Robert Kennedy Jr., and Roger Stone, among others.
By repeating the alleged false accusations against Miller, the suit claims that he has suffered “irreparable harm” to his character and reputation.
The case has not yet been assigned a hearing date.
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