Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco is not the type of elected official who hesitates to make controversial public statements.
The staunch right-winger, who was rumored to be considering a run for governor in 2026, put himself back in the political spotlight this weekend when he said his aides had likely foiled a third attempt to assassination against former President Trump.
Before a Trump rally at Coachella, Bianco deputies arrested Vem Miller, a Trump supporter from Los Angeles, who was caught trying to enter the rally with two loaded guns, a fake ID , a false license plate and a false passport.
Miller said he did not intend to kill the former president and carried the guns for protection.
“I probably had deputies who prevented the third assassination attempt,” Bianco told reporters after his arrest. “I truly believe we prevented another assassination attempt.”
But on Tuesday, Bianco walked back his comments slightly, helping to make Miller’s arrest a national story.
“Three days later, IF everything Mr. Miller said is true, and I really hope it is, then he probably wasn’t there to hurt former President Trump,” Bianco said in a text message to the Times. “I definitely said that and I can’t change that.”
Bianco said he made the comments at the time of the arrest based on the discovery of a fake passport and fake IDs in Miller’s car, as well as Miller’s use of a fake license plate. Bianco said it was still unclear whether Miller intended to assassinate Trump.
“We have no way of knowing for sure. It depends on further investigation, if any, by the FBI,” he said.
Bianco’s comments infuriated Miller, who told the Times that he did not intend to assassinate Trump but was now planning to file a “massive lawsuit” against Bianco and the County Sheriff’s Office. Riverside County because of Bianco’s comments.
“Everything they said about me is false, it’s proven,” Miller told the Times. “Unfortunately, he seems to have committed suicide because of his career.”
Critics of Bianco say the sheriff’s comments are indicative of his spontaneous nature, which sometimes gets him into trouble.
“I am not surprised by these statements. I find him to be a very emotional leader. He doesn’t talk about the facts of the investigation, he extends them to what he believes to be the case,” said Michael Lujan, a former sheriff’s deputy who lost in the election to Bianco.
Lujan called Bianco’s statements irresponsible.
But other law enforcement officers disagreed.
Ed Obayashi, a law enforcement adviser to agencies across California, said that while he doesn’t always agree with Bianco’s public statements, he considers the sheriff’s comments about Miller’s arrest fell within the limits of his duties as an elected law enforcement agent.
“He is a public figure speaking on a subject of public interest. He didn’t say the guy was planning an assassination attempt. He said he “probably” plans one. There is a whole world of difference there.
Obayashi said Bianco was making comments based on his feelings about the case and that there might be evidence that Bianco has that the public is unaware of.
When he spoke at the news conference after Miller’s arrest, Bianco said he couldn’t share all the information he had about the case.
Whether the comments were inappropriate or not, Miller will have a hard time winning a defamation case, said defamation lawyer Jean-Paul Jassy. Jassy said speculation like Bianco’s is usually not enough to prove defamation, which requires a factually inaccurate statement.
“I think this individual would probably have a hard time demonstrating defamation under the circumstances,” Jassy said.
This is far from the first time Bianco has courted controversy from his perch in Riverside as the nation’s top law enforcement officer.
Riverside City Council member Clarissa Cervantes sued Bianco last year after the sheriff posted on social media accusing her of joining and supporting abortion rights activists who vandalized the statehouse. Riverside Justice.
Eight protesters were arrested for vandalism.
Cervantes denied joining the protest, saying she just walked past the courthouse and asked what was going on. When she learned law enforcement was dealing with the vandalism, she thanked them and left, she said.
“Unfortunately, Bianco has a history of speaking to the public and making statements without proof, as seen in my case. I was the victim of completely different allegations, which put my life and safety and that of my family at risk. Any allegation made by the sheriff without providing evidence is reckless, damaging and dangerous,” Cervantes said in a statement to the Times.
In May, Bianco endorsed Trump for president in a tongue-in-cheek social media post.
“I think it’s time to put a criminal in the White House. Trump 2024 baby,” he said in an Instagram video during which he blasted what he sees as California’s lax crime-fighting policies.
The incident comes just a month after an assassination attempt at Trump’s golf course in Florida. In July, a would-be assassin shot Trump in the ear during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Cervantes also suggested that Bianco made the comments about Miller for political purposes.
“What better way to attract attention than to be the hero of another “assassination attempt”? she said.
