An Arizona man accused of planning a mass-casualty attack on a Jewish or Muslim house of worship allegedly possessed a notorious bomb-making guide associated with Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh, prosecutors say.
Matthew Bjornholt, 27, has been charged with felony making a terrorist threat over the alleged plan to target a religious site.
Maricopa County prosecutors allege that Bjornholt developed a detailed plan involving firearms, explosives and an accomplice who would shoot people left alive after the initial attack.
At Bjornholt’s first court appearance Friday, prosecutor Stephen Garcia requested a $500,000 cash bond, arguing that the defendant posed an immediate threat to the community, FOX 10 reported.
Garcia told the court that Bjornholt had described plans to attack a religious site and possessed a copy of “The Anarchist Cookbook,” a publication containing bomb-making instructions that has been associated with McVeigh, the convicted Oklahoma City bomber.
According to Garcia, Bjornholt called the book his “Bible.”
Prosecutors said the alleged scheme involved detonating explosives before an accomplice began “picking off people” with a gun.
Investigators later recovered three firearms and ammunition from Bjornholt’s residence.
Defense attorney Chad Schell disputed the prosecution’s account, saying the case rests entirely on unverified claims from a former acquaintance who was angry with Bjornholt, FOX 10 reported.
Schell told the court that the tip came from a “homeless alcoholic” whom Bjornholt had briefly allowed to stay at his home before asking him to leave late last month.
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The attorney also said federal authorities had examined the allegations several weeks earlier. According to Schell, the FBI searched Bjornholt’s home on Sept. 29, and Bjornholt voluntarily turned over his electronic devices and provided the passwords needed to access them.
Schell said federal investigators found no evidence of terrorism or bomb-making supplies and brought no federal charges before county authorities assumed control of the case roughly two weeks later.
“There is no evidence he’s a danger to the community. What is the evidence that he’s a danger to the community? Some hearsay statements from some dude — that my client kicked out of his house two days before September 29,” Schell told the court.
“Again, the FBI served a search warrant, got all of his electronic devices. He gave them access, gave him his passwords to those devices. They went through all of those electronic devices. They didn’t see anything about terrorism. And FBI cut him loose,” he continued.
Schell further maintained that Bjornholt legally owned the three guns. He said Bjornholt’s civil rights had been restored after he completed a prior sentence on a drug charge connected to a closed first-degree murder case. The murder charge, Schell said, was dismissed because of insufficient evidence.
The ammunition found at the residence amounted to no more than standard magazine loads, Schell argued.
Fox News Digital has contacted the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office and the FBI’s Phoenix field office for comment.
Although prosecutors pointed to Bjornholt’s criminal history while seeking a higher bond, the judge said the state’s initial evidence relied substantially on hearsay. The judge set bond at $100,000, FOX 10 reported.
The judge nevertheless determined that prosecutors had presented enough probable cause for the case to proceed.
Authorities have not identified a specific house of worship allegedly targeted in the plan, and it remains unclear whether Bjornholt had a confirmed accomplice.
Bjornholt is scheduled to return to court on Oct. 22 for a status conference and then later for a preliminary hearing on Oct. 26.
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