Man with two guns, fake passports arrested near Trump rally – Newstrends
Connect with us

International

Man with two guns, fake passports arrested near Trump rally

Published

2 months ago

on

Donald Trump

Man with two guns, fake passports arrested near Trump rally

A man in illegal possession of a shotgun and a loaded handgun was arrested at an intersection near Donald Trump’s rally in Coachella, California, on Saturday, police said.

The 49-year-old suspect, Vem Miller, was driving a black SUV when he was stopped at a security checkpoint by deputies, who located the two firearms and a “high-capacity magazine”.

Mr Miller was then taken into custody “without incident”, the Riverside County Sheriff’s office said, and booked on possession of a loaded firearm and possession of a high-capacity magazine.

The US Secret Service said Trump “was not in any danger”, adding that the incident did not impact protective operations.

A local sheriff called the suspect a “lunatic” and his office added the encounter did not affect the safety of Trump or the rally’s attendees.

Many questions remain unanswered.

While Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco said it was impossible to speculate about what was in the mind of the suspect, he said he “truly believed” that his officers had prevented a third assassination attempt.

He added that it might be impossible to prove that this was the man’s intent.

A federal law enforcement official told CBS News there was no indication of an assassination attempt connected to this incident.

Federal authorities say they are still investigating the incident, and it would be up to them to pursue any additional charges.

Mr Bianco is an elected official and a Republican who has previously expressed support for Trump. He is also acting as a surrogate – a representative – for Trump’s re-election campaign.

READ ALSO:

The incident – which police said took place at 16:59 local time on Saturday (00:59 GMT on Sunday) – highlights, once again, the intense security operation around Trump, and the dangers facing the former president, with just over three weeks to go until the election.

It follows two high-profile alleged assassination attempts on Trump earlier this year.

Mr Miller was charged with two misdemeanour weapons charges and was released on a $5,000 (£3,826) bail. No federal charges have been filed.

In a police news conference earlier on Sunday, Mr Bianco warned he might not be able to “give all of the information… because of what we’re doing”.

The sheriff added that as the suspect approached an outside perimeter, near the location of the rally, he “gave all indications that he was allowed to be there”.

But as the suspect got to the inside perimeter, “many irregularities popped up”, Sheriff Bianco added, explaining that the vehicle had a fake licence plate and was in “disarray” inside.

Multiple passports with multiple names and multiple driving licences were found in the car, the sheriff said, adding that the licence plate was “home-made” and not registered.

READ ALSO:

He added that the suspect had told authorities he was a member of the far-right group called Sovereign Citizens.

He said the licence plate was also “indicative of a group of individuals that claim to be Sovereign Citizens”, but he had not concluded that Mr Miller was a member.

“I wouldn’t say it’s a militant group. It’s just a group that doesn’t believe in government and government control,” he said. “They don’t believe that government and laws apply to them.”

The US Attorney’s Office, Secret Service, and FBI are aware of the arrest, according to a statement from federal authorities.

“The US Secret Service assesses that the incident did not impact protective operations and former President Trump was not in any danger,” the statement said.

“While no federal arrest has been made at this time, the investigation is ongoing. The US Attorney’s Office, US Secret Service, and FBI extend their gratitude to the deputies and local partners who helped ensure the safety of last night’s events.”

Security surrounding Trump has been heavily increased in the wake of previous alleged assassination attempts.

The Saturday before Mr Miller’s arrest, Trump held his second rally in Butler, Pennsylvania this year, the same place were his ear was bloodied after a sniper fired multiple shots in his direction, killing one person in the crowd.

Another man is currently in jail after he was arrested outside the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach in September. The man was spotted hiding in bushes near the golf course with the muzzle of a rifle sticking out through the shrubbery.

Man with two guns, fake passports arrested near Trump rally

BBC

Related Topics:
Advertisement

International

Syria not threat to world, rebel leader al-Sharaa tells BBC

Published

3 days ago

on

December 19, 2024

By

Ahmed al-Sharaa

Syria not threat to world, rebel leader al-Sharaa tells BBC

The de facto leader of Syria, Ahmed al-Sharaa, has said the country is exhausted by war and is not a threat to its neighbours or to the West.

In an interview with the BBC in Damascus, he called for sanctions on Syria to be lifted.

“Now, after all that has happened, sanctions must be lifted because they were targeted at the old regime. The victim and the oppressor should not be treated in the same way,” he said.

Sharaa led the lightning offensive that toppled Bashar al-Assad’s regime less than two weeks ago. He is the leader of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the dominant group in the rebel alliance, and was previously known by his nom de guerre of Abu Mohammed al-Jolani.

He said HTS should be de-listed as a terrorist organisation. It is designated as one by the UN, US, EU and UK, among many others, as it started as a splinter group of al-Qaeda, which it broke away from in 2016.

Sharaa said HTS was not a terrorist group.

They did not target civilians or civilian areas, he said. In fact, they considered themselves to be victim of the crimes of the Assad regime.

He denied that he wanted to turn Syria into a version of Afghanistan.

READ ALSO:

Sharaa said the countries were very different, with different traditions. Afghanistan was a tribal society. In Syria, he said, there was a different mindset.

He said he believed in education for women.

“We’ve had universities in Idlib for more than eight years,” Sharaa said, referring to Syria’s north-western province that has been held by rebels since 2011.

“I think the percentage of women in universities is more than 60%.”

And when asked whether the consumption of alcohol would be allowed, Sharaa said: “There are many things I just don’t have the right to talk about because they are legal issues.”

He added that there would be a “Syrian committee of legal experts to write a constitution. They will decide. And any ruler or president will have to follow the law”.

Sharaa was relaxed throughout the interview, wearing civilian clothes, and tried to offer reassurance to all those who believe his group has not broken with its extremist past.

Many Syrians do not believe him.

The actions of Syria’s new rulers in the next few months will indicate the kind of country they want Syria to be – and the way they want to rule it.

Syria not threat to world, rebel leader al-Sharaa tells BBC

BBC

Continue Reading

International

Israel hits ports, energy sites in Yemen after missile intercepted

Published

3 days ago

on

December 19, 2024

By

Israel hits ports, energy sites in Yemen after missile intercepted

JERUSALEM: Israel said Thursday it struck ports and energy infrastructure it alleges are used by Houthi militants, after intercepting a missile fired by the group.

Israel’s military said it “conducted precise strikes on Houthi military targets in Yemen — including ports and energy infrastructure in Sanaa, which the Houthis have been using in ways that effectively contributed to their military actions.”

The announcement came shortly after Israel said it had intercepted a missile fired from Yemen.

Al-Masira, a media channel belonging to the Houthis, said a series of “aggressive raids” were launched in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa and the port city of Hodeidah.

It reported raids that “targeted two central power plants” in Yemen’s capital Sanaa, while in Hodeidah it said “the enemy launched four aggressive raids targeting the port… and two raids targeting” an oil facility.

The strikes were the second time this week that Israel’s military has intercepted a missile from Yemen.

On Monday, the Houthis claimed a missile launch they said was aimed at “a military target of the Israeli enemy in the occupied area of Yaffa” — a reference to Israel’s Tel Aviv area.

READ ALSO:

Also Monday, an Israeli navy missile boat intercepted a drone in the Mediterranean after it was launched from Yemen, the military said.

The Houthi militants have said they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians and pledged Monday to continue operations “until the aggression on Gaza stops and the siege is lifted.”

On December 9, a drone claimed by Houthis exploded on the top floor of a residential building in the central Israel city of Yavne, causing no casualties.

In July, a Houthi drone attack in Tel Aviv killed an Israeli civilian, prompting retaliatory strikes on the Yemeni port of Hodeidah.

The Houthis have also regularly targeted shipping in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, leading to retaliatory strikes on Houthi targets by United States and sometimes British forces.

Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari said the group had become a “global threat,” pointing to Iran’s support for the militants.

“We will continue to act against anyone, anyone in the Middle East, that threatens the state of Israel,” he said.

 

Israel hits ports, energy sites in Yemen after missile intercepted

Continue Reading

International

Gaza mediators intensify ceasefire efforts, Israeli strikes kill 20 people

Published

3 days ago

on

December 19, 2024

By

A Palestinian boy looks as others inspect the damage at a tent camp sheltering displaced people, following an Israeli strike, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Al-Mawasi area, in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, December 18, 2024. (Reuters)

Gaza mediators intensify ceasefire efforts, Israeli strikes kill 20 people

CAIRO: The United States, joined by Arab mediators, sought on Wednesday to conclude an agreement between Israel and Hamas to halt the 14-month-old war in the Gaza Strip where medics said Israeli strikes killed at least 20 Palestinians overnight.

A Palestinian official close to the negotiations said on Wednesday that mediators had narrowed gaps on most of the agreement’s clauses. He said Israel had introduced conditions which Hamas rejected but would not elaborate.

On Tuesday, sources close to the talks in Cairo, the Egyptian capital, said an agreement could be signed in coming days on a ceasefire and a release of hostages held in Gaza in return for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

Medics said an Israeli airstrike killed at least 10 people in a house in the northern town of Beit Lahiya while six were killed in separate airstrikes in Gaza City, Nuseirat camp in central areas, and Rafah near the border with Egypt.

In Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip, medics said four people were killed in an airstrike on a house. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military spokesman.

Israeli forces have operated in the towns of Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahiya as well as the nearby Jabalia camp since October, in a campaign the military said aimed to prevent Hamas militants from regrouping.

Palestinians accuse Israel of carrying out acts of “ethnic cleansing” to depopulate the northern edge of the enclave to create a buffer zone. Israel denies it.

READ ALSO:

Hamas does not disclose its casualties, and the Palestinian health ministry does not distinguish in its daily death toll between combatants and non-combatants.

On Wednesday, the Israeli military said it struck a number of Hamas militants planning an imminent attack against Israeli forces operating in Jabalia.

Later on Wednesday, Muhammad Saleh, director of Al-Awda Hospital in Jabalia, said Israeli shelling in the vicinity damaged the facility, wounding seven medics and one patient inside the hospital.

The Israeli military had no immediate comment.

In the Central Gaza camp of Bureij, Palestinian families began leaving some districts after the army posted new evacuation orders on X and in written and audio messages to mobile phones of some of the population there, citing new firing of rockets by Palestinian militants from the area.

CEASEFIRE GAINS MOMENTUM

The US administration, joined by mediators from Egypt and Qatar, has made intensive efforts in recent days to advance the talks before President Joe Biden leaves office next month.

In Jerusalem, Israeli President Isaac Herzog met Adam Boehler, US President-elect Donald Trump’s designated envoy for hostage affairs. Trump has threatened that “all hell is going to break out” if Hamas does not release its hostages by Jan. 20, the day Trump returns to the White House.

CIA Director William Burns was due in Doha on Wednesday for talks with Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani on bridging remaining gaps between Israel and Hamas, other knowledgeable sources said. The CIA declined to comment.

Israeli negotiators were in Doha on Monday looking to bridge gaps between Israel and Hamas on a deal Biden outlined in May.

There have been repeated rounds of talks over the past year, all of which have failed, with Israel insisting on retaining a military presence in Gaza and Hamas refusing to release hostages until the troops pulled out.

The war in Gaza, triggered by a Hamas-led attack on communities in southern Israel that killed some 1,200 people and saw more than 250 abducted as hostages, has sent shockwaves across the Middle East and left Israel isolated internationally.

Israel’s campaign has killed more than 45,000 Palestinians, displaced most of the 2.3 million population and reduced much of the coastal enclave to ruins.

 

Gaza mediators intensify ceasefire efforts, Israeli strikes kill 20 people

ARAB NEWS

Continue Reading

Trending