The felony case against a man charged with making threats against Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin will be presented to a grand jury for indictment consideration.
Brian Stephen Vest, 50, was set to have a preliminary hearing Monday but waived his right to do so, court records show. Jefferson County District Judge William Bell sent the case on to a grand jury for indictment consideration.
Vest’s bond was reduced from $100,000 to $30,000. He has remained in jail since his June 3 arrest on the charge of making a terrorist threat. His arrest took place during the week of unrest in Birmingham following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Authorities believe Vest is the man who called in a threat to 911, a call that began with these words: “Hey man if you take down that statue in Linn Park… I’m going to come down there with my AK-47 and start blowing the damn pigs away, and the protesters, everybody. I’m going to assassinate n***** Randall Woodfin.”
He continued, “You think I’m playing? You’ll find out, you’ll be all over the news, punk ass. You hear me? I’m coming down there right now with my automatic weapon and I’ll blow your f****** heads off, assholes. You hear me?”
“F*** off asshole, I’ll hang you from a tree, n*****,” when the 911 operator asks what car he will be driving.
“That Mayor Randall Woodfin will be dead before light, before morning…. I’m going to start blowing peoples f****** heads off down there.”
“I got a bomb set right by that statue, it’s about to go off, you hear me? You hear me punk ass?”
“You better lay off that statue right now. You better back the f*** up, you hear me? Say something coward. I’m going to blow that damn n***** mayor’s head off, you hear me?”
“It’s none of your f****** business what my name is, asshole,” when the operator asks his name. “Go f*** yourself moron… people going to die tonight.”
“I’m going down with my AK-47.. I’m on the way right now, punk.”
“You can all kiss my ass and go to hell. Go f*** yourself, asshole.”
Following the threatening call to 911 – which lasted one minute and 40 seconds – City Hall was put on lockdown and Birmingham police showed up en masse. The lockdown was in effect by about 5:15 p.m. and Vest was in custody within less than two hours.
Court records do not list any previous criminal arrests for Vest.