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A Wisconsin pharmacist, who was convinced that the world was “collapsing”, told police that he tried to destroy hundreds of doses of the coronavirus vaccine because he believed the injections would transform people’s DNA, according to court documents released in the Monday.
Police in Grafton, about 20 miles north of Milwaukee, arrested Advocate Aurora Health pharmacist Steven Brandenburg last week after an investigation into the 57 damaged vials of the Modern vaccine, which authorities say contains enough doses to inoculate more than 500 people. Charges are pending.
“He formed the belief that they were not safe,” said Adam Gerol, the district attorney for Ozaukee County, during a virtual hearing. The prosecutor added that Brandenburg was upset because he was divorcing his wife, and an Aurora employee said Brandenburg had taken a gun to work twice.
One detective wrote in a likely statement that Brandenburg, 46, is an admitted conspiracy theorist and that he told investigators that he intentionally tried to ruin the vaccine because it could harm people by changing their DNA.
Disinformation about Covid-19 vaccines has increased online 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, as well as the Modern vaccine, depends on messenger RNA or mRNA, which is a relatively new technology used in vaccines that experts have been working on for years.
MRNA vaccines help to train the immune system to identify the peak protein on the surface of the coronavirus and create an immune response. Experts said there is no truth to claims that vaccines can genetically modify humans.
Jeff Bahr, the chief lawyer for the Aurora Health Care medical group, said Brandenburg admitted that he deliberately removed the refrigeration bottles at Grafton Medical Center overnight from December 24 to December 25, returned them and then left them behind. out again on the night of December 25 on Saturday.
A pharmacy technician discovered the bottles out of the refrigerator on December 26.
Brandenburg’s lawyer Jason Baltz did not speak on the merits of the case during the hearing. Gerol postponed the process, saying he has yet to determine whether Brandenburg really destroyed the doses.
Judge Paul Malloy ordered Brandenburg to be placed on $ 10,000 bond on the condition that he hand over his firearms, do not work in the healthcare field and have no contact with Aurora officials.
Brandenburg has been divorcing his wife for eight years. The couple has two small children.
According to a statement by Brandenburg’s wife, he visited her on December 6 and delivered a water purifier and two supplies for 30 days of food, telling her that the world was “collapsing”.
He also said the government was planning cyber attacks and would shut down the power grid.
She added that he was storing bulk food along with weapons in rental units and she no longer felt safe around him.