Neal Horsley, 65, was arrested in Carrollton, about 80km west of Atlanta, said Atlanta Police Sgt. Curtis Davenport. He would not say who Horsley is accused of threatening, but Horsley's son, Nathan, said he thought the arrest was connected to the video about the musician.
In the video posted on February 28 on YouTube, Horsley held the sign in front of a building where he said John has a condo. John's publicist, Fran Curtis, confirmed that John has an Atlanta apartment but declined further comment.
Horsley was upset that John, who is gay, told Parade magazine in an interview last month that he thought Jesus was a "compassionate, super-intelligent gay man who understood human problems."
"What Elton John has done is desecrated the image of the Lord Jesus Christ, blasphemed the Lord Jesus Christ," Horsley said in the video.
Horsley founded the Creator's Rights Party and has declared himself a candidate in the 2010 governor's race. He kicked off his campaign on July 4, 2008 in downtown Carrollton, wearing a placard showing the head of an aborted fetus while singing an anti-abortion song.
The state ethics commission, which oversees election filings, has no record of Horsley's campaign.
He previously gained notoriety in the late 1990s for his role in establishing a Web site that published the names and addresses of doctors who performed abortions. Planned Parenthood officials called the site a "hit list for terrorists."
Fulton County jail records showed Horsley also faces charges of criminal defamation and disseminating terroristic threats over the Internet.
He was being held Thursday in the Fulton County jail on $40,000 bond. As conditions for his release, a judge said he must live with his son in a house with a phone landline and must pay 10 percent of his bond in cash.
Horsley's son said his father doesn't have an attorney.
