Missoula Crime Report: Man Charged for Allegedly Threatening City Council Members

The Missoula County Attorney’s Office filed 11 new criminal complaints this week. Chief Deputy County Attorney Matt Jennings says six of those cases involved some form of violence.

“Three were family violence, two were non family violence, and another one was a threat of violence,” Jennings said. “There was one endangerment crime that was a criminal endangerment. Those often include alcohol and driving, and causing danger to other drivers on the road. We had three property crimes, including a theft. We had one drug offense. I would note that many of our other crimes include drugs and alcohol, but aren’t necessarily charged.”

According to Jennings, his office formally charged Brandon Bryant on Thursday for allegedly making a threatening YouTube video about city council members.

“He had been charged with threats or improper influence in political or official matters,” Jennings said. “People’s right to free speech is critically important in our society and by all means, people have a right to engage in their government, but they don’t have a right to make threats against those people that are making the decisions. Some of the things that were alleged in that case are very disturbing and resulted in charges being brought against that individual for those threats.”

Bryant is accused of threatening mass murder. According to court documents, Bryant admitted to a Missoula police officer that he made and posted a video where he said he would "hunt people and exterminate them."

Bryant’s bail was set at $100,000. Jennings says the Missoula County Attorney’s Office asked for a high bail amount because of the nature of those threats. Judge Shane Vannatta refused to lower the bond amount because he said the court is disturbed by the nature of the allegations.