Armed man arrested outside Trump rally in Southern California – NBC4 Washington

A Nevada man with a shotgun, a loaded handgun, ammunition and several fake passports in his vehicle was arrested at a security checkpoint outside Donald Trump's rally in the Southern California desert Saturday evening, authorities said. He was released Saturday on $5,000 bail.

The suspect, a 49-year-old Las Vegas resident, was driving an unregistered black SUV with a “homemade” license plate that was stopped by officers at the rally in Coachella, east of Los Angeles, Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco said at a news conference on Sunday.

The driver said he was a journalist, but it was unclear whether he had the relevant qualifications. Officers found the vehicle's interior “in disarray,” and a search uncovered weapons and ammunition as well as multiple passports and driver's licenses with different names, Bianco said.

The man was arrested on suspicion of possession of a loaded firearm and possession of a high-capacity magazine, the agency said in a statement.

“This incident had no impact on the safety of former President Trump or those attending the event,” Saturday’s statement said. Trump had not yet arrived at the rally at the time of the arrest, the sheriff said on Sunday.

According to online records, the suspect is scheduled to appear in court on January 2, 2025.

Bianco declined to speculate on the suspect's motives or state of mind. “We know we prevented something bad from happening, and it didn’t matter what the bad thing would be,” Bianco said.

Members of the media, as well as VIP ticket holders, were directed through a series of intersections manned by state and local law enforcement officers before arriving at a large, grassy area where drivers were asked to open hoods and trunks, and every vehicle from a K-9 officer was searched. Other general admission ticket holders were directed to a location about 5 kilometers from the rally, where they boarded buses and were driven to the location.

Trump's campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the arrest.

Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco scheduled an afternoon news conference to discuss the arrest.

After two recent assassination attempts, security at Trump rallies is very tight. Last month, a man was charged with attempted assassination after authorities said he watched the former president for 12 hours and wrote that he wanted to kill him. The arrest in Florida came two months after Trump was shot and injured in the ear in an assassination attempt during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania.

Acting Director of the U.S. Secret Service Ronald Rowe on Friday outlined the findings of the agency's investigation into the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump on July 13 in Butler, Pennsylvania.