The FBI arrested a Nevada man on Sept. 16 on charges of cyberstalking and transmitting interstate communications with threat to injure two high-level UT employees, according to a criminal complaint.
The arrested party, Brian Solomon, sent “persistent threatening” Instagram messages to two UT employees from around June 6 until his arrest, according to the complaint. Solomon is currently detained pending trial, according to a court order from the U.S. District Court of Nevada. The court’s public calendar shows there is a preliminary examination scheduled for Oct. 1.
The United States Attorney General’s Office, the office pressing charges against Solomon, declined to comment.
Solomon admitted to law enforcement during the recent arrest that he sent “a few thousand messages” to one UT employee and contacted the second. Those messages threatened murder and physical violence to both employees and sexual violence to the second employee’s family, according to the complaint.
Solomon’s attorney did not respond to requests for comment.
In messages sent on Sept. 11 and Sept. 16, Solomon threatened to fly to Austin to meet one employee at a University athletic event and “massacre” anyone in attendance, according to the complaint.
A member of the athletics department first reported the harassment to University police by email on June 24, according to a UTPD police report. UTPD investigated the incident and issued an arrest warrant for Solomon on July 19, but there is no record of an arrest.
UTPD did not respond to multiple requests by The Daily Texan for comment.
Solomon’s messages caused “substantial emotional distress” to the victims, who feared for their and their families’ safety, and one employee moved residences to a gated community in response to the threats, according to the complaint.
Solomon was previously arrested on July 26 in Travis County for vehicle burglary and “criminal mischief.” Solomon was arrested in Nevada for stalking on Feb. 27, according to the complaint, but the Texan was unable to find a record of that arrest.
“The safety of our students, faculty, staff and visitors is our highest priority,” UT spokesperson Mike Rosen said in an email. “The University works routinely with federal, state and local law enforcement partners to detect and respond to any potential threats to public safety.”
