LAS VEGAS — Vem Miller, the Nevada filmmaker and Republican activist arrested on weapons charges outside Donald Trump’s Coachella Valley, California, rally, says he’s been forced to go into hiding and fears for his life after the local sheriff in Riverside County accused him of trying to kill the former president.
“It’s so easy to kill somebody or harm somebody you know, and that person might think he’s a hero in the moment, just due to ignorance of not knowing the facts,” Miller, 49, told The Post in a video chat interview.
“So I’ve got to reassess everything going forward, and look at it with new lenses.”
Miller said he’s a dire-hard Trump supporter and has been working to get the 45th president back in the White House.
On Tuesday he filed a lawsuit against Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, who told local media that his deputies “probably stopped another assassination attempt” when they arrested Miller with a shotgun, a handgun and a high-capacity magazine in his SUV outside Trump’s Southern California campaign event last Saturday night.
A federal District Court for Nevada filing alleges Bianco “fabricate[d] allegations against Miller .. claiming to have thwarted a third assassination attempt” against the ex-prez, now seeking a second White House term.
Bianco, the complaint alleges, “knew that Miller was not charged with any wrongdoing concerning assassination attempts, and that United States Secret Service and FBI agents even declined to interview him. It became clear that Bianco, intentionally, maliciously and with a blatant disregard for the truth, wanted to create a narrative so as to be viewed as a ‘heroic’ Sheriff.”
The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department did not respond to a request for comment.
Within hours of his arrest — which ended with two weapons charges and his release on $5,000 bond, according to the legal filing — Miller became internationally recognized.
His car and equipment remain impounded, and he’s living in “an undisclosed location,” he said.
Although his new notoriety has boosted his AmericaHappens.com video service and prompted tens of thousands of views of his video statements about the arrest, Miller said that brief jail stay also took its toll.
Its impact came in “[t]he way I was characterized, you know, and thrown into jail with like hardened criminals the other day and wondering what the hell I’m doing here,” Miller said.
He appeared calm and collected despite the Saturday arrest and global attention.
But when he went out to buy fresh clothes after his release, Miller said, people looked at his picture on their mobile phones and then stared. He said the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department has expressed concern about possible attempts on his life should he return to Sin City.
Although Miller no longer lives in the Astoria Trails South gated community he and his parents once called home, the family still resides in Las Vegas. He said his parents, ages 83 and 77, were shaken by an unannounced visit to their home Sunday morning by Las Vegas police.
Miller, who the complaint said underwent hours of detention and mistreatment, had told deputies he had two firearms in his car as he entered a parking area for the Trump event.
He said the Nevada GOP had sent him “special guest” access passes, and he was authorized to attend the event. The Riverside sheriff accused him of having forged press passes and VIP tickets to the event.
Miller, who ran as a Republican for a state assembly seat two years ago, is a “Trump Captain” as part of the Trump Force 47 swing state program.
“I’m an artist. My motto has been, art is the greatest weapon.” Miller said.
The lawsuit, filed by Las Vegas attorney Sigal Chattah — also a Nevada GOP committeewoman — seeks compensatory and general damages as well as “punitive damages to the fullest extent permitted by law,” along with interest.
Miller said he likely won’t attend further Trump events, despite his commitment to the campaign.
He said he fears someone might want to emulate Texan Jack Ruby, who in 1963 killed John F. Kennedy assassin Lee Harvey Oswald as a “favor” to the late President’s widow.
