Federal authorities have charged an Alabama resident, Jeremy Wayne Shoemaker, with making threatening communications across state lines, targeting various religious leaders in the Southern United States. This includes an alarming threat directed at a rabbi, where Shoemaker stated, “I want you to die.”

Shoemaker, hailing from Needham, Alabama, faces charges under the federal statute for Interstate Communications Threats. In addition to these charges, he was previously apprehended on state-level accusations of resisting arrest and illegal possession of a firearm, as he was prohibited from owning a handgun.

According to court filings by an FBI agent, Shoemaker is accused of placing a series of threatening calls and sending texts to rabbis located in Alabama and Louisiana, an imam in Georgia, and a church in North Carolina, among others. During a subsequent search of Shoemaker’s residence, law enforcement discovered multiple firearms, a suitcase filled with ammunition, and documents containing names, addresses, and contact details of various religious leaders and notable individuals, officials reported.

Shoemaker reportedly informed investigators that his intent was not to incite actual violence but rather to “intimidate or engage in psychological warfare.” The court records also note that Shoemaker has been diagnosed with a mental illness, although the specific diagnosis was redacted. His grandmother informed the FBI that he had been non-compliant with his prescribed medication regimen for this condition.

The FBI became involved after Shoemaker left a series of threatening voicemails, including one earlier this month targeting a rabbi in Mountain Brook, Alabama. In these messages, Shoemaker ominously declared, “I want you to die because you want the death of us,” adding, “You want the West to die off.”

“I want you to die because you want the death of us,” Shoemaker said in one of the calls. “You want the West to die off.”

The agent wrote that Shoemaker sent text messages to an Islamic center in Louisiana in 2024, including one stating that the “jews and you musIimeens have declared war on us again, and we are going to defend ourselves.” Another to a Georgia imam this year said he knew where the imam lived and warned for him to watch his back.

Shoemaker told the FBI agent that he did not intend any violence and the calls and texts were an attempt at intimidation.

“Shoemaker claimed his statements were satire, not a legitimate threat, rebuttal, and mocking them,” the agent wrote.

A search of Shoemaker’s home found multiple firearms, a body armor carrier, and numerous boxes of ammunition.

Needham is a small town in southwest Alabama located about 10 miles (16 kilometers) from the Mississippi-Alabama border. Shoemaker is being held in the Choctaw County Jail.

Sara Jones, FBI special agent in charge, said multiple law enforcement agencies acted “within hours of learning of a threat to a member of the Jewish community.”

“This is a prime example of law enforcement working together to crush violent crime and protect the American people,” Jones said in a statement Friday.

Ernest C. McCorquodale, III, a defense lawyer representing Shoemaker in the state charges, declined to comment when reached earlier this week.

The Clarke County Sheriff’s Office announced Tuesday that a man was taken into custody by a multi-agency force after the FBI and other law enforcement offices were “notified of credible threats of violence made against multiple synagogues throughout Alabama and surrounding states.” A photo posted by the sheriff’s department shows a semi-automatic rifle, shotgun, handgun and piles of ammunition taken from the home.