Trump's Third Assassination Attempt? ... Illegal Gun Possessor Arrested Near Campaign Rally Site

Avoided Assassination Attempts Twice in July and September

A man illegally possessing a large quantity of firearms and magazines near the campaign site of former U.S. President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump was arrested by police. This occurred just one month after Trump narrowly escaped an assassination threat at his golf resort.

On the 13th (local time), security authorities in Riverside County, California, announced in a press release that they arrested 49-year-old Bem Miller on charges of illegal possession of firearms at a vehicle checkpoint outside the Coachella Valley campaign site around 5 p.m. the previous day.

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

The suspect, who was in a black SUV at the time, was found to be illegally carrying a shotgun, a loaded handgun, and high-capacity magazines inside the vehicle. He was arrested without resistance and detained at a nearby jail but was released on bail after paying $5,000 on the same day, according to the Associated Press. He resides in Las Vegas, Nevada, and is scheduled to appear in court on January 2 of next year.

The security authorities, who issued an official statement a day after the incident, explained that "this incident did not affect the safety of former President Trump or the event participants." Former President Trump is scheduled to carry out a campaign schedule targeting the traditional Democratic strongholds, starting from Coachella Valley, California, on the 12th and continuing through Madison Square Garden in New York at the end of this month.

Previously, former President Trump had already escaped two assassination attempts. On July 13, at a campaign event in Butler, Pennsylvania, a bullet fired by the perpetrator grazed the upper part of Trump's right ear. Additionally, on September 15, while Trump was playing golf at the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, a Secret Service (SS) agent on site preemptively responded to a gunman hiding by the golf course fence, preventing a tragedy.

Meanwhile, the security authorities, who have come under scrutiny due to the successive attack incidents, have recently suffered severe personnel losses due to high work intensity and low compensation, leading to a mass departure of veteran agents. According to federal data, at least 1,400 employees have retired from the SS over the past two years, accounting for 18% of the total staff (7,800). This is the largest scale of personnel loss in the SS over the past 20 years.