Hospital pharmacist accused of sabotaging vaccines

GRAFTON, Wis. – Newly opened court documents portray a former pharmacist from a suburban Milwaukee hospital accused of sabotaging hundreds of doses of a COVID-19 vaccine as an admitted conspiracy theorist who believes in baseless ideas not rooted in facts – that the land is flat, the vaccine is “microchipped” and can cause infertility, and would take a firearm to work “if the military came to take it away.”

Steven Brandenburg, 46, of Grafton was charged in a federal court in Milwaukee last week on two counts of attempting to tamper with a consumer product and intends to plead guilty in that case. He also faces state charges of attempting criminal property damage. He pleaded not guilty in that case.

In a recently unsealed search warrant, Brandenburg’s assistant at the Advocate Aurora Medical Center in Grafton alerted her supervisors to the discovery of a box containing 57 vials of the Modern COVID-19 vaccine – which health officials say equals hundreds of doses – out of cold storage in the early morning hours of December 26th.

Ultimately, 57 people received the vaccine in question during a vaccination clinic that morning. On December 31, Advocate Aurora’s medical director, Dr. Jeff Bahr, said during a news conference that the 57 doses administered on December 26 were not harmful, but were not effective.

The assistant, Sarah Sticker, told investigators that she immediately suspected Brandenburg had removed the vaccines. She said Brandenburg had defended conspiracy theories for months and was vocal about her convictions against the vaccine, telling Sticker that she doesn’t believe the virus is real, that the vaccine is “microchipped”, “will turn off” people’s birth control, will make others infertile. Sticker said he observed Brandenburg’s research if there was a way to track whether vaccines were kept at the required temperature.

Sticker told federal agents that Brandenburg believes that “the earth is flat; the sky is not real, instead it is a shield placed by the government to prevent individuals from seeing God; and Judgment Day is coming,” according with court documents.

During her next shift, Sticker said that Brandenburg waited for her outside her cubicle to “talk”, confront her, and feared that Brandenburg might be “desperate” or “upset”. Brandenburg is currently getting a divorce. Sticker added that Brandenburg had already shown her a gun that he brought to work, “if the military came to take him away,” according to a search warrant statement, and that she believed he used it while he was there. at work.

Messages left on a phone number listed for Sticker, as well as an email, were not returned immediately. When contacted by phone, Brandenburg’s lawyer Jason Baltz declined to comment.

According to a sworn statement from Brandenburg’s wife on December 30, Brandenburg stopped at his wife’s home in early December and left a water purifier and two food supplies for 30 days, telling her that the world was “falling apart. “and she was in denial. He said the government is planning cyber attacks and will shut down the power grid. His wife added that he was storing food and weapons in rental units.

A court commissioner concluded that Brandenburg’s children were in imminent danger and temporarily banned them from staying with him.

The case’s revelations come through a search request as federal investigators sought to review several of Brandenburg’s electronic devices, including his cell phone and laptop, including any communications or records he may have about the Modern Covid-19 vaccine and his history at the Internet. What the researchers found on these devices remains unclear.

Brandenburg was charged with a complaint in a federal court in Milwaukee last week, accused of disregarding the risk it poses to someone else by tampering with the bottles. A plea bargain filed indicates that Brandenburg intends to plead guilty, but has not yet filed a formal plea.

In interviews with Advocate Aurora investigators, Brandenburg initially said that he must have forgotten or forgotten to put the vaccine box back in the refrigerator while reorganizing it. However, Brandenburg later admitted that he intentionally removed the vaccine twice, first on the night of December 24, before replacing it; and again on December 25, when Sticker found him the next morning, the 26th.

Brandenburg then sent an e-mail confession to the hospital’s investigators on December 30, admitting to having removed the vaccine twice from storage to make it ineffective, as he believes it alters people’s DNA. In the email, Brandenburg says his “actions were unforgivable and I deeply apologize for the damage I caused”, pointing to his pending divorce, causing him stress and that he “was not thinking clearly”, “regardless of my personal views on the vaccine issue. “

Brandenburg had his pharmacy license voluntarily suspended by a state council earlier this month, pending the outcome of criminal proceedings. A spokesman for the Department of Security and Professional Services informing FOX6 on Monday that an investigation is underway and, once completed, will be presented to the pharmacy examining board for consideration.

During a hearing earlier this month, the district attorney for Ozaukee County said the bottles removed from storage were being tested by Moderna to determine whether they are still effective.

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Brandenburg has waived the indictment of federal charges and is scheduled to appear before a federal judge by videoconference, due to coronavirus precautions, next week. He is also due to appear in the Ozaukee County courthouse on state charges next month. He remains in custody on bail.