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A Wisconsin pharmacist, who was convinced the world was “falling,” 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.
Grafton police, about 20 miles north of Milwaukee, arrested Advocate Aurora Health pharmacist Steven Brandenburg last week after an investigation into the 57 broken vials of the Modern vaccine, which officials said contained enough doses to inoculate more than 500 people. Charges are pending.
“He had formed this belief that they were unsure,” Adam Gerol, an Ozaukee County District Attorney, said during a virtual hearing. The prosecutor added that Brandenburg was upset because he was in the midst of his wife’s divorce, and an Aurora employee said Brandenburg had taken a gun to work twice.
A detective wrote in a probable cause statement that Brandenburg, 46, is an admitted conspiracy theorist and told investigators he was intentionally trying to ruin the vaccine because it could hurt people by changing their DNA.
Disinformation about Covid-19 vaccines has increased in line with false claims circulating about everything from vaccine ingredients to possible side effects.
One of the first false claims suggested that vaccines could alter DNA. The Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine and the Modern vaccine are based on messenger RNA or mRNA, which is 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 there is no truth about claims that vaccines can genetically modify humans.
Jeff Bahr, head of the medical group Advocate Aurora Health Care, has said Brandenburg admitted he deliberately removed the refrigeration vials at Grafton Medical Center overnight from Dec. 24 to Dec. 25, returned them and left again the night of December 25 to Saturday.
A pharmacy technician discovered the vials out of the fridge on Dec. 26.
Brandenburg lawyer Jason Baltz did not speak on the merits of the case during the hearing. Gerol suspended the filing of any charges, saying he has yet to determine whether Brandenburg actually destroyed the doses.
Judge Paul Malloy ordered a $ 10,000 bail to be held in Brandenburg on condition that he hand over the firearms, not work in health care, and have no contact with Aurora employees.
Brandenburg is divorcing his eight-year-old wife. The couple has two small children.
According to an affidavit filed by the Brandenburg woman, he visited her on Dec. 6 and left a water purifier and two food supplies for 30 days, telling her the world was “falling.”
He had also said the government was planning cyberattacks and would shut down the power grid.
He added that he stored food in bulk along with firearms in rental units and that he no longer felt safe around him.