MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) – Federal prosecutors have charged an Alabama man with making threatening calls and texts to multiple rabbis, an imam, and other religious leaders in the South, including a disturbing statement to one rabbi declaring, “I want you to die.”
Jeremy Wayne Shoemaker of Needham, Alabama, is charged with making an Interstate Communications Threat. He was previously arrested on state charges for resisting arrest and illegally possessing a firearm.
According to an FBI agent’s affidavit, Shoemaker engaged in a series of frightening communications addressing rabbis in Alabama and Louisiana, an imam in Georgia, and a church in North Carolina. Authorities later discovered weapons and a suitcase filled with ammunition in his home, alongside documents containing personal information of various religious leaders and public figures.
Reports suggest that Shoemaker suffers from a diagnosed mental illness, with his grandmother informing the FBI that he had stopped taking his prescribed medication. The exact nature of his mental health condition remains undisclosed in public court records.
The FBI's investigation revealed that Shoemaker initially targeted a rabbi in Mountain Brook, Alabama, and continued making threats toward others.
In several alarming messages, Shoemaker indicated that he was pushing for violence against religious leaders, stating, “I continue to push the Muslimeens to kill you Rabbis.” He further asserted his intent to carry on with these threats, framing them as a form of counter-terrorism.
Needham is a small community in southwest Alabama, situated roughly 10 miles from the Mississippi state line. Shoemaker is currently detained at the Choctaw County Jail.
The Clarke County Sheriff’s Office reported on Tuesday that Shoemaker was apprehended following credible threats of violence against multiple synagogues within Alabama and its neighboring states, prompting a coordinated response from law enforcement agencies.
