Man with weapons including high-capacity magazine stopped at checkpoint near Donald Trump rally
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Police officers in California arrested a man with weapons near a rally being held by Donald Trump, it has emerged.
The 49-year-old man was found in possession of a shotgun, a loaded handgun and high-capacity magazine on Saturday afternoon local time.
Officers stopped him at a checkpoint near the rally in Coachella in a black SUV.
Local paper The Press-Enterprise quoted Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco as saying: “We probably stopped another assassination attempt.”
However, a source familar with the incident said: “There was no assassination attempt in [California] yesterday.
“A man at a perimeter checkpoint had a gun but there was no incident.”
The Secret Service said it is investigating.
VIPs and the media were being sent through police checkpoints where drivers were asked to open the boots and car bonnets of their vehicles, which were then searched by a K-9 officer.
Other ticket holders were sent to a site around three miles away from the rally.
From there, they were driven onto the site on buses.
Sheriff Bianco said his deputies became suspicious when the man presented fake VIP and press passes at a checkpoint, according to The Press-Enterprise.
The Secret Service said in a statement: “We were contacted as it happened and secret service agents conducted a productive intelligence interview.
“It had no impact on the event and we are looking into the circumstances and the backgrounds of the individuals.”
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Riverside County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement: “On Saturday, October 12, 2024, at 4.59pm, deputies assigned to former President Donald Trump’s rally in the Coachella Valley contacted the driver of a black SUV at a checkpoint at the intersection of Avenue 52 and Celebration Drive.
“[The man] was taken into custody without incident and later booked at the John J. Benoit Detention Center for possession of a loaded firearm and possession of a high-capacity magazine.
“This incident did not impact the safety of former President Trump or attendees of the event.”
The county sheriff’s office will hold a news conference at 3pm local time.
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The man was released from custody on the same day with a $5,000 (£3,800) bail and is scheduled to appear in court on 2 January next year, according to online records.
He was charged with possession of a loaded firearm and possession of a high-capacity magazine, according to the sheriff’s office.
Donald Trump’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the arrest.
The Republican presidential candidate was shot in an assassination attempt at a rally in Pennsylvania in July, when a bullet grazed his ear.
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Last month, another man was charged with trying to assassinate the former president after Secret Service agents found him hiding with a rifle near Mr Trump’s golf course in Palm Beach. He pleaded not guilty.
