Posted in: Comics, Current News, san diego comic con | Tagged: bryan brandenburg, comic con, fan x, salt lake city

FanX/Salt Lake Comic Con Co-Founder Guilty of Making Bomb Threats

Bryan Brandenburg, co-founder of FanX, formerly known as Salt Lake Comic Con, has found guilty of sending bomb threats and awaits sentencing.

Bryan Brandenburg is well known to Bleeding Cool readers as the co-founder of FanX, formerly known as Salt Lake Comic Con. He has just been found guilty by a federal jury in Honolulu of seven counts of sending bomb threats by e-mail in Utah and across the USA. The first count carries a maximum sentence of twenty years in prison, and the subsequent six counts each carry a maximum sentence of ten years.

Famously, Bryan Brandenburg went up against the San Diego Comic-Con over the "Comic Con" trademark, ended up losing to the tune of $4 million, which led him to apologise and to change the name of his convention to FanX.

Originally a video game programmer for the Commodore 64 and Apple II, Bryan Brandenburg founded and sold a number of software companies before founding the Salt Lake Comic Con, later FanX and brought FanX events to China, Thailand and the Philippines. He took a leave of absence from FanX over allegations that he mishandled harassment complaints at the event.

After moving to Hawaii, Bryan Brandenburg was arrested and charged over making bomb threats in May 2022 across several locations in Salt Lake City as well as San Diego, including against the Matheson Courthouse, the University of Utah, the Salt Lake Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and the Federal Courthouse in San Diego as well as threats to a number of media figures in Salt Lake City. The complaint states that Brandenburg expressed frustration over court-based delays to his divorce, believing the court and his family were conspiring to extract money from him.

Bryan Brandenburg's emails expressed his intention to bomb the courthouse. More emails were sent threatening to bomb the Utah State Capitol, the Mayor's Office, every Ivy League School, the United States Courthouse in San Diego, Hall Labs in Utah, and the University of Utah Center for Medical Innovation. Brandenburg reportedly told the FBI that he "wanted to get their attention." The charges brought against him were for "transmitting threats in interstate commerce" and "threatening and conveying false information concerning use of an explosive." He pled not guilty.

Bryan Brandenburg will be detained until sentencing, scheduled for the 9th of November.

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