An Arizona man accused of planning a mass-casualty attack on a Jewish or Muslim place 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 say Bjornholt described a violent scenario involving firearms, explosives and an accomplice who would shoot people left alive after the initial attack.
At Bjornholt’s first court hearing Friday, prosecutor Stephen Garcia requested a $500,000 cash bond, arguing that the defendant posed an immediate threat to the public, FOX 10 reported.
Garcia told the court that Bjornholt allegedly developed detailed plans to attack a house of worship. The prosecutor also said investigators found a copy of “The Anarchist Cookbook,” which includes bomb-making instructions and has long been associated with McVeigh, the convicted Oklahoma City bomber.
According to Garcia, Bjornholt called the book his “Bible.”
Prosecutors allege the proposed attack would begin with bomb detonations, followed by an accomplice using firearms to “pick off people.”
Authorities later recovered three firearms and ammunition during a search of Bjornholt’s home.
Defense attorney Chad Schell disputed the prosecution’s account, saying the case rests entirely on unverified allegations from a former acquaintance who was angry with Bjornholt, FOX 10 reported.
Schell characterized the tipster as a “homeless alcoholic” who had briefly stayed at Bjornholt’s home before being asked to leave late last month.
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The attorney said federal authorities examined the allegations weeks earlier. According to Schell, the FBI searched Bjornholt’s residence on Sept. 29, and Bjornholt cooperated by turning over his electronic devices and providing their passwords.
Schell said federal investigators found no evidence of terrorism or bomb-making supplies and declined to bring federal charges. County authorities assumed control of the matter roughly two weeks later, he said.
“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 also maintained that Bjornholt legally owned the three guns. He argued that Bjornholt’s civil rights had been restored after he completed a sentence on a drug conviction connected to a closed first-degree murder case. The murder charge was later dismissed for lack of evidence, according to the attorney.
The ammunition recovered from the residence amounted only to ordinary magazine loads, Schell said.
Fox News Digital has requested comment from the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office and FBI Phoenix.
Although prosecutors pointed to Bjornholt’s criminal record while seeking a higher bond, the judge said the state’s initial evidence depended substantially on hearsay. The judge set bond at $100,000, FOX 10 reported.
The court nevertheless determined that prosecutors had presented sufficient probable cause for the case to proceed.
Authorities have not said whether the alleged plan focused on a particular house of worship or identified a specific 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.