Alabama Man Arrested for Threatening Religious Leaders

Sat Nov 01 2025 02:23:11 GMT+0200 (Eastern European Standard Time)

A man from Montgomery, Alabama, has been charged with making violent threats against multiple religious leaders, including rabbis and an imam, raising concerns over hate crimes and mental health.

Federal prosecutors have charged Jeremy Wayne Shoemaker, an Alabama resident, with making threatening calls to various religious leaders across the South. The FBI identified Shoemaker as a potential threat after he made alarming statements, including wanting to see members of the Jewish and Muslim faiths harmed. Shoemaker, who is said to have a diagnosed mental illness, was found in possession of weapons and ammunition, leading to his arrest by a multi-agency task force amidst heightened alert over credible threats against synagogues.

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Federal prosecutors have charged an Alabama man with making threatening calls and texts to multiple rabbis, an imam, and others in the South, including telling one religious leader, “I want you to die.”

Jeremy Wayne Shoemaker of Needham, Alabama, was charged with making an Interstate Communications Threat and has been arrested on related state charges of resisting arrest and possession of a pistol as a person prohibited from legally owning a firearm.

According to court documents, Shoemaker made a series of menacing calls and texts to various religious figures, including rabbis in Alabama and Louisiana, an imam in Georgia, and a church in North Carolina. Law enforcement discovered weapons and a suitcase full of ammunition at his residence, along with documents containing the names and addresses of prominent religious leaders.

An FBI agent noted in court filings that Shoemaker has a diagnosed mental illness, with his grandmother stating he had been noncompliant with his medication regimen. The specific nature of his condition was not disclosed in public documents.

Details in the FBI’s affidavit stated that Shoemaker's threatening communications began with a rabbi in Mountain Brook, Alabama, which led investigators to uncover further threats directed at others.

In one particular message, Shoemaker expressed his intent to provoke violence against religious leaders, stating, “I continue to push the Muslimeens to kill you Rabbis.” In another exchange, he emphatically stated, “I want you to die because you want the death of us. you want the West to die off.”

Needham, a small town in southwest Alabama, is located roughly 10 miles from the Mississippi-Alabama border. Currently, Shoemaker is being held at the Choctaw County Jail.

The Clarke County Sheriff’s Office confirmed on Tuesday that Shoemaker was apprehended by a multi-agency task force after authorities received credible threats of violence against multiple synagogues in Alabama and surrounding states.