By NEAL WAGNER / Managing Editor

COLUMBIANA – Attorneys for a 28-year-old Clanton man who is facing charges alleging he threatened to go on a “killing spree” at businesses in Alabaster and Birmingham are asking for a lower bond for the suspect, claiming he did not have the means or intentions to carry out the threat.

On June 7, Michael Hensley, an attorney for Clanton resident Jeremie Montgomery, submitted a motion requesting Montgomery’s current $500,000 bond be reduced.

The Chilton County Sheriff’s Office SWAT team arrested Montgomery on Nov. 1, 2015, after he allegedly made a Facbeook post earlier in the day threatening violence at two businesses. The arrest happened at Montgomery’s residence off Chilton County 81 “without incident,” according to the Chilton County Sheriff’s Office.

In the Facebook post, Montgomery, brandishing an SKS rifle, wrote “I feel (like) going on a killing spree today,” and specifically named Flowers Baking Company in Birmingham and the Alabama Crown distribution center in Alabaster.

“They messed over the wrong person and it’s about to go down like that,” Montgomery wrote. “I got 30 rounds and I’m trying to (use) the whole clip and some more.”

After he was arrested and charged in Chilton County, Montgomery was transported to the Shelby County Jail, where he faces a felony terrorist threat charge related to the threat against Alabama Crown.

Montgomery has been held in the Shelby County Jail on a $500,000 bond on the terrorist threat charge since his 2015 arrest.

In the request to lower Montgomery’s bond, Hensley said the current bond “is more than 30 times greater than the recommended bail schedule” for the charge, and said the “bond is so excessive as to actually create a ‘No bond’ in this matter.”

Hensley claimed a search of Montgomery’s home found no ammunition or firearms in the suspect’s home, property or motor vehicle, and claimed there was “no proof found that (Montgomery) tried or had the capacity to carry out any online threats.”

Hensley also claimed the photo Montgomery posted with the threat was about five years old, and was followed up with a post claiming the post was a “joke.”

“The alleged postings were made during the Halloween weekend, a holiday known for jokes and pranks,” read the request.

Judge Daniel Crowson is set to rule on the bond reduction request during a July 5 hearing at the Shelby County Courthouse.

In March, Crowson bound Montgomery’s charge over to a Shelby County grand jury. As of June 10, a grand jury had not returned an indictment in the case.