Riverside County Sheriff on Sunday arrested a man with a shotgun, loaded handgun, ammunition and several fake passports in his vehicle outside Republican presidential nominee and former US President Donald Trump's rally on Sunday.
The US Attorney's Office, Secret Service, and FBI are aware of the arrest and have begun investigating. The US Secret Service's assessment of the situation found no risk to Donald Trump's life as the incident didn't impact protective operations, according to a joint federal statement on the incident in Riverside County, California.
Donald Trump has become the target of two assassination attempts in the past two months. Several rounds of bullets were fired near Trump's house in California in September. The businessman-turned-politician was shot in the ear during another rally in July this year.
Returning to Trump's alleged third assassination attempt in Coachella, the 49-year-old suspect introduced himself as a journalist, but it was unclear if he had original ID proofs, reported AP. He was a resident of Las Vegas and 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, reported AP.
The man came under suspicion because of his vehicle's interior which was “in disarray”. Consequentially, a search uncovered the weapons and ammo, along with multiple passports and driver licenses with different names, Bianco told AP.
The man was arrested on suspicion of possessing a loaded firearm and possession of a high-capacity magazine, the department said in a statement.
“This incident did not impact the safety of former President Trump or event attendees,” the Saturday statement said. Trump had not yet arrived at the rally at the time of the arrest, the sheriff said Sunday.
The suspect was discharged at the same time and is set to appear in court on January 2, 2025. The police didn't clarify the main motive behind the suspect.
“We know we prevented something bad from happening, and it was irrelevant what that bad was going to be," Bianco said.
