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Chandler judge sets $100,000 bond for man accused of plotting attack on house of worship
Matthew Bjornholt, 27, is charged with making a terrorist threat after prosecutors alleged he planned a bomb-and-gun attack on a Jewish or Muslim place of worship. A judge found probable cause but declined prosecutors’ request for a $500,000 bond, ordering him held on $100,000 bond with electronic monitoring.
A Maricopa County judge on Friday ordered Matthew Bjornholt held on a $100,000 bond with electronic monitoring as he faces a felony charge of making a terrorist threat over an alleged plan to attack a Jewish or Muslim house of worship.
At Bjornholt’s initial appearance in court on Oct. 16, prosecutor Stephen Garcia asked for a $500,000 cash bond, arguing the 27-year-old posed an imminent danger. The judge found probable cause for the case to proceed but rejected the requested amount, citing the preliminary evidence’s reliance on hearsay.
Prosecutors alleged that Bjornholt discussed a plan involving explosives and firearms, with an accomplice shooting people who survived an initial blast. Garcia told the court Bjornholt had a copy of “The Anarchist Cookbook,” a manual containing bomb-making instructions, and described it as his “Bible.” Investigators seized three firearms and ammunition from Bjornholt’s home, according to the account presented in court.
Bjornholt’s attorney, Chad Schell, denied the allegations and argued they rested on an unreliable account from a former acquaintance who had stayed at Bjornholt’s home before being asked to leave. Schell said the FBI searched the home on Sept. 29 and found no evidence of terrorism or bomb-making materials, and that federal authorities did not bring charges. Those claims were presented by the defense in court.
Schell also said the firearms were lawfully possessed and that Bjornholt’s civil rights had been restored after he completed a sentence on a drug charge. The drug case, he said, stemmed from a first-degree murder case in which the murder charge against Bjornholt was dropped for lack of evidence.
Authorities have not identified a specific house of worship allegedly targeted or said whether an accomplice exists. Bjornholt is scheduled to return to court for a status conference Oct. 22 and a preliminary hearing Oct. 26.