Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco holds a press briefing to discuss the arrest made at former President Trump’s campaign event in Coachella, California.

New York Post

Local cops arrested an armed man outside a Donald Trump rally in California Saturday, and the local sheriff has doubled down on claims that a third assassination attempt was prevented – even though he let the suspect walk after posting a meager bail for gun charges.

“I truly do believe we prevented another assassination attempt,” Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco told reporters Sunday, a day after suspect Vem Miller was arrested at a checkpoint outside Trump’s rally in Coachella Valley.

Miller, 49, was caught at a police checkpoint allegedly trying to enter the rally with a phony press pass – but when cops noticed his car was unregistered, they searched the vehicle and discovered a cache of fake passports and driver’s licenses, along with a shotgun, a loaded handgun and a high-capacity magazine, officials said.

He was soon booked on weapons charges, and then sprung after posting $5,000 bail, but the sheriff turned around and told the Riverside Press-Enterprise that his department had all but saved Trump’s life.

Federal agencies, however, appear to disagree.

The Secret Service believes it unlikely Miller was attempting to assassinate the president, and the FBI is not investigating it as such, sources told The Post, who noted Miller is a member of an anti-government far-right group and probably had the weapons for personal defense alone.

The Secret Service later said Trump wasn’t at risk during the rally.

“The US Secret Service assesses that the incident did not impact protective operations and former President Trump was not in any danger,” the agency and the FBI said in a joint statement. “While no federal arrest has been made at this time, the investigation is ongoing.”

Miller reportedly asked for a lawyer after the FBI tried to interview him, and briefly told reporters claims that he was an assassin “complete bulls–t.”

But the sheriff stood by his initial assessment while speaking to the press Sunday – calling Miller a “lunatic” and suggesting the country might also be for suggesting he was “being dramatic.”

“What his frame of mind was, all we can do is speculate,” Bianco said. “If you’re asking me right now, I probably did have deputies that prevented the third assassination attempt.

“If we are that politically lost, that we have lost sight of common sense and reality and reason that we can’t say ‘Holy crap, what did he show up with all of that stuff for?’ … And I’m going to be accused of being dramatic? We have a serious, serious problem in this country. Because this is common sense and reason.”