A man in illegal possession of a shotgun and a loaded handgun was arrested at an intersection near Donald Trump's rally in Coachella, California, on Saturday, police said.
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The 49-year-old suspect, Vem Miller, was driving a black SUV when he was stopped at a security checkpoint by officers, who located the two firearms and a "high-capacity magazine".
Mr Miller was then taken into custody "without incident", the Riverside County Sheriff's office said. He was later released and told US media he was a Trump supporter who was not planning to harm the Republican presidential candidate.
The US Secret Service said Trump "was not in any danger", and that the incident did not impact protective operations.
Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco also said that the encounter did not affect the safety of Trump or the rally's attendees.
Although it was impossible to speculate about what was in the mind of the suspect, Mr Bianco said he "truly believed" that his officers had prevented a third assassination attempt.
He added that it might be impossible to prove that this was the intent of Mr Miller, who he described as "a lunatic".
Mr Bianco is an elected official and a Republican who has previously expressed support for Trump. He is also acting as a surrogate - a representative - for Trump's re-election campaign.
Mr Miller himself told the Southern California News Group that he was "shocked" at his arrest, while denying accusations that he wanted to hurt Trump.
He also told Fox News that he "always" travelled around with guns in his vehicle, but had never fired one.
Before his release on a $5,000 (£3,826) bail, Mr Miller was charged with two misdemeanour weapons charges. No federal charges have been filed.
A federal law enforcement official told the BBC's US partner CBS News there was no indication of an assassination attempt connected to this incident.
Federal authorities say they are still investigating the incident, and it would be up to them to pursue any additional charges.
source: bbc