US police say they appear to have prevented the assassination of Donald Trump for the third time.

Former President Donald Trump with a bandage on his ear after the failed assassination attempt. Photo: Xinhua

Law enforcement officers arrested an armed man with a fake press ID outside former President Donald Trump’s rally in Coachella, California on October 12 – the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement. announced on October 13.

Vem Miller, a 49-year-old Las Vegas resident, was arrested at a checkpoint outside the rally site with an illegally owned handgun, a loaded gun and a capacity magazine big.

Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco told local press that Miller presented a fake VIP card and press ID at the checkpoint.

“They were different enough to make the police nervous,” Mr. Bianco told the Press-Enterprise. “We could have prevented another assassination.”

Bianco described Miller as a member of the “citizen supremacist” movement, referring to the group of radical libertarians who believe the government cannot legally exercise power over them.

Miller is a registered Republican, has a master’s degree from the University of California, Los Angeles, and ran for state assembly in Nevada in 2022.

Miller has not confirmed or denied his intention to assassinate Donald Trump.

The 49-year-old suspect was released on bail of $5,000 and will appear in court in January on charges of illegal weapons possession.

Mr. Donald Trump has survived two failed assassination attempts in the past three months. The former President and Republican presidential candidate narrowly escaped death at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania in July, when a bullet fired from about 150 meters away grazed his ear.

The gunman fired from a roof unprotected by the Secret Service, killing one campaign participant and injuring two others. The suspect was killed at the scene.

The second assassination attempt took place at Mr. Trump’s golf course in West Palm Beach, Florida, in September. A gunman aimed at the former President from behind bushes and was captured by the Secret Service.

The suspect who assassinated Mr. Trump, identified as Ryan Wesley Routh, had planned to join the Ukrainian army in 2022 but failed and then began a plan to recruit former Afghan commandos to fight for Kiev.

US intelligence agents say Iran is trying to assassinate Donald Trump and President Joe Biden warned Tehran that he would consider the attack on his former political rival an act of war.

Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz announced last month that there are currently five “assassination groups” in the US targeting Mr. Trump, three of which are linked to Iran, Pakistan and Ukraine.

Another theory favored by some Republicans is that “an inside agent within the Secret Service” is leaking information to these hit groups, Mr. Gaetz told Breitbart News.

On October 11, President Joe Biden said he had ordered the Secret Service to protect Mr. Trump “like a sitting president” and provide him with any security support his campaign requests.