A man with a shotgun-loaded handgun, ammunition and several fake passports in his vehicle was arrested at a security checkpoint outside Donald Trump’s rally on Saturday night in the Southern California desert, authorities said.
He was released on Saturday on 5,000 dollar (£3,830) bail.
The suspect, a 49-year-old from Las Vegas, was driving an unregistered black SUV with a “homemade” licence plate stopped by deputies assigned to the rally in Coachella, east of Los Angeles, Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco said at a news conference on Sunday.
The driver claimed to be a journalist but it was unclear if he had the proper credentials.
Snipers look over the scene as Donald Trump speaks (Alex Brandon/AP)
Deputies noticed the interior of the vehicle was “in disarray” and a search uncovered the weapons and ammunition, along with multiple passports and driver licences with different names, Mr Bianco said.
The man was arrested on suspicion of possessing a loaded firearm and possession of a high-capacity magazine, the department said in a statement.
“This incident did not impact the safety of former President Trump or attendees of the event,” the Saturday statement said.
Mr Trump had not arrived at the rally at the time of the arrest, the sheriff said on Sunday.
The suspect is scheduled to appear in court on January 2 2025, according to online records.
Mr Bianco declined to speculate about the suspect’s motives or frame of mind.
Attendees watch as former President Donald Trump speaks at Coachella, California (Alex Brandon/AP)
“We know we prevented something bad from happening, and it was irrelevant what that bad was going to be,” he said.
Media members, as well as VIP ticket holders, were taken through a number 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 each vehicle was searched by an officer with a dog. Other general ticket holders were directed to a site roughly three miles away from the rally, where they were boarded onto buses and driven to the site.
Mr Trump’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the arrest.
Security is very tight at the former president’s rallies following two recent assassination attempts.
Last month, a man was indicted on an attempted assassination charge after authorities said he staked out the former president for 12 hours and wrote of his desire to kill him. The Florida arrest came two months after Mr Trump was shot and wounded in the ear in an assassination attempt during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania.