Photo: Joshua Laine
LIVERMORE — A former political candidate is presently being held without bail on two terrorism-related charges. The suspect in custody is accused of threatening to burn down the home of a judge.
Last year, Joshua Laine, 34 of Livermore, briefly ran for governor, and later mayor of Livermore. Since then, Laine has posted political comments on social media, one of which recently landed him in jail.
Specifically, Laine is accused of posting threatening comments on the Facebook page of the political group California Family Advocacy. This group spearheaded a failed attempt to recall several judges last year.
Contra Costa County Superior Court Judge Jill C. Fannin was one of the judges targeted. The recall effort and subsequent social media posts alleged all kinds of unsubstantiated corruption in the court system.
Judge Fannin has been subjected to ongoing ridicule. At one point she was depicted with a pig’s nose. Attacks on her included a post from Laine that was deemed threatening. His comments suggested burning down her house and included her home address.
When Fannin saw the post, she phoned the police and requested police protection outside her residence. The offending post has since been taken down by Facebook.
When police questioned Laine, he denied doing it, but later conceded he might have done it while he was drunk. He subsequently claimed he never intended any threat.
Officers thought otherwise, and Laine was arrested earlier this month and transported to the West County Detention Facility, where he remains in custody. His charges are making threats with intent to terrorize and making threats to an elected official.
