Who is Vem Miller, the man arrested outside the Trump rally at Coachella? 4 things to know

Vem Miller, the man arrested for gun possession outside former President Donald Trump's rally in Coachella, Calif., this weekend, claims he is a Trump supporter and has a long media and political history.

While some observers believed he posed a threat to the rally or even to Trump himself, Miller says he regularly carries his firearms in the back of his truck and has never had the intention to hurt the former president.

Here are four key facts about Vem Miller.

1. Miller claims to have a long media history.

Miller released a more than hour-long video statement on Rumble Monday night. He outlines his political and professional history and asserts that he never intended to harm Trump.

Vem Miller, the man arrested at Trump's Coachella rally, said he did not intend to hurt the former president. (Vem Miller)

Miller told Fox News in an interview Sunday that he has been in the media for 30 years and began working after graduating from high school. He said he worked on music videos and television shows with major artists and started America Happens Network to fight “censorship” in the media.

He added in his video statement that he worked as a professional music video director from 2001 to 2008 and worked with artists like DMX, John Maher and even Jerry Seinfeld for the “Bee Movie” music video.

Miller says his career then shifted to television and he received contracts to work with the History Channel, Discovery Channel, Netflix and others.

“Again, I have contracts and documents to verify that everything I said is accurate and true,” he said.

Miller did not immediately provide proof of those contracts when contacted by Fox News Digital on Monday.

COPS ARRESTS MAN CARRYING ILLEGAL WEAPONS NEAR TRUMP COACHELLA RALLY; SUSPECT SAYS HE SUPPORTS EX-PRESIDENT

Vem Miller was arrested at a Trump rally in Coachella, California on October 12, 2024.

2. Miller ran for office in Nevada as a Republican.

Nevada state records show Miller unsuccessfully ran for office in 2022. He is a registered Republican and was running in the party's primary for a seat in the Nevada General Assembly, landing in third place with 1,337 votes.

He claimed in his video statement that he received a “pass” from the Nevada Republican Party to Trump's rally in California. The Nevada GOP did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.

“I can prove that I was given a special entry pass directly by officials of the Nevada Republican Party,” Miller said in his video statement. “I was a real guest at this event.”

Miller says he was apprehended when he declared his firearms to security at a checkpoint to attend the Coachella rally. Police arrested him, but he was later released on $5,000 bail.

3. He says he met Don Jr. and Eric Trump.

Miller claimed in his video statement that he had attended numerous rallies for Trump and met some members of the former president's family.

“I would say over the last four years I have been to countless Trump rallies and events,” Miller said. “I was, and this is again verifiable, about as far away from the former president as I could touch him,” he said, indicating a short distance with his hands. “I've talked to Don Jr., I've talked to Eric Trump. I know a lot of people within the Trump family and the extended family.”

Miller went on to describe himself as a “libertarian more than anything else.”

Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump speaks at a rally in Coachella, California on October 12, 2024. (Reuters/Mike Blake)

4. He claims to have received death threats because of his work in the media.

Miller says he began receiving death threats from anonymous individuals in 2022, leading him to purchase his firearms.

He repeatedly expressed concerns about his safety in his video statement and provided details of threats against him.

“Due to the content I produce, around 2022, I began receiving multiple death threats,” Miller said. “Until now, I had never owned a gun. And these death threats were emailed to me with what I would call heinous images depicting violence – Scrabble pieces to me were sent one by one spelling out the word “death”, and so on.

He says that worry led him to buy a Glock handgun and a shotgun. He added that he had never fired any of these weapons and had never been to a shooting range with them.

Miller said he made a habit of informing police or security at Trump events that he had the guns in the trunk of his vehicle.

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“It was just a simple courtesy to the police,” he said. “Every time I've been to a rally in Nevada and notified the police, it was no problem and they thanked me for warning them.

He added that he felt he made a “critical error” in forgetting that he was in California when he declared guns at the last rally.

Fox News' Stepheny Price and Bryan Preston contributed to this report