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A Wisconsin pharmacist who believed the world was “collapsing” told police he was trying to ruin hundreds of doses of coronavirus vaccine because he believed the shots would mutate people’s DNA, according to court documents released Monday.
Police in Grafton, about 20 miles north of Milwaukee, last week arrested Aurora Health pharmacist Steven Brandenburg after an investigation into the 57 tainted vials of the Moderna vaccine, which officials say contained enough doses to kill more than 500 people. inoculate. There are costs pending.
“He had formed the belief that they were unsafe,” said Adam Gerol, the district attorney for Ozaukee District, during a virtual hearing. The prosecutor added that Brandenburg was upset because he was in the middle of his wife’s divorce, and an Aurora employee said that Brandenburg had twice taken a gun to work.
One detective wrote in a likely cause statement that Brandenburg, 46, is a well-known conspiracy theorist and that he told investigators he intentionally tried to ruin the vaccine because it could harm people by altering their DNA.
Misinformation about the Covid-19 vaccines has risen online with false claims circulating about everything from the vaccines’ ingredients to potential side effects.
One of the first false claims suggested the vaccines could alter DNA. Both the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine and the Moderna vaccine rely on messenger RNA or mRNA, a fairly new technology used in vaccines that experts have been working on for years.
MRNA vaccines help train the immune system to identify the spike protein on the surface of the coronavirus and create an immune response. Experts have said the claims that the vaccines can genetically modify humans are untrue.
Jeff Bahr, the Chief Medical Group Officer of Advocate Aurora Health Care, has said that Brandenburg admitted to deliberately removing the vials from the refrigerator at Grafton Medical Center overnight from December 24 to December 25, returning them and giving them back. then left it again on the night of December 25 to Saturday.
A pharmacist discovered the bottles outside the refrigerator on December 26.
Brandenburg’s attorney, Jason Baltz, did not discuss the substance of the case at the hearing. Gerol has not filed any charges, as he has yet to determine whether Brandenburg actually destroyed the doses.
Judge Paul Malloy ordered Brandenburg on a $ 10,000 signature on the condition that he turn in his firearms, not work in health care, and have no contact with Aurora employees.
Brandenburg is in the process of divorcing his wife of eight years. The couple have two small children.
According to an affidavit filed by the Brandenburg woman, he visited her on December 6 and delivered a water purifier and two 30-day food supplies, telling her that the world was “collapsing.”
He also said the government is planning cyber attacks and cutting off the power grid.
She added that he stored food in bulk along with weapons in rental units and that she no longer felt safe with him.