Suspect arrested near Trump rally in US California denies assassination attempt

LOS ANGELES - The man arrested with two loaded guns outside a rally of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump in the US state of California over the weekend denied assassination plot and threatened on Monday to sue a sheriff who claimed his deputies stopped the man from attempting to assassinate the former president, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Vem Miller, the armed suspect, told the largest daily newspaper in the western United States in a phone interview Monday that he brought his two weapons to the rally for self-protection, saying he received death threats in response to work he has done for his media company, the America Happens Network.

Miller said that Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco made false claims about him at a press conference over the weekend, adding that he has lawyers preparing a "massive lawsuit" against the county in Southern California, according to the report.

Bianco told reporters Sunday that his deputies "probably stopped another assassination attempt". But authorities investigating the armed man arrested Saturday outside a Trump rally in Coachella have found no evidence that he was planning to try to kill Trump, said the report.

Miller has been released on a 5,000-US-dollar bail.

Public records show that Miller is a registered Republican. The 49-year-old Nevada man also told the media that he is a Trump supporter and was shocked by his arrest and the accusation.

Sources close to the Trump campaign told Fox News that they do not view Miller's actions as an assassination attempt.