CALIFORNIA MAN JAILED FOR VOICEMAIL THREAT TO MAYOR DAILY

Hiz Honor Mayor Richard Daley

The long arm of the Chicago law reached out and grabbed a San Jose, California man for allegedly threatening the life of Chicago Mayor Richard Daley.

Christopher Traynor Fox, 39, was arrested last month after he allegedly left an obscenity-laced message at Daley's office.

Prosecutors allege that Fox’s voicemail message contained a threat; He was charged with threatening a public official and is now being held on a $1 million bond. Originally held in San Jose, Fox was transported several days ago to Chicago to face criminal charges there.

Fox has admitted in court that he made a call to the mayor but denies he made a threat.

On Sunday, Fox's attorney said he intended to file a motion to reduce the $1 million bail.

Defense lawyer Tony Eben called the bond "unreasonable," and claimed "nothing was said that was to be taken seriously."

In the meantime, Hiz Honor was not amused by the “just kidding” defense or the profane voice message.

Fox allegedly took exception to Hiz Honor’s stance on gun control—so naturally Fox made his point by threatening to shoot the Mayor. (As if this was calculated to persuade Daily to NOT ban firearms in his city?)

Many states, including California, have laws on the books making it a felony offense to expressly or by implication threaten an elected official, or their staff.

UPDATE:

Fox was reportedly arrested in his home town of San Jose CA just 48 hours after making the voicemail threat to Mayor Daily, but is now in custody in Chicago. He appeared in court today, and we will have further updates when more is known.

UPDATE (7/13/2010): Fox's bond has been lowered from $1 million to $500,000.