FBI: Vaccine saboteur believes earth is flat, sky is not real

A Grafton pharmacist who investigators said intentionally tried to sabotage a box of COVID-19 vaccine by leaving it out of the refrigerator for two days told coworkers he believes the Earth is flat and the sky is not real.”Rather it is a shield put up by the Government to prevent individuals from seeing God,” an FBI document obtained by the WISN 12 News Investigative Unit revealed.The document, filed in United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, was part of a search warrant affidavit written by FBI Special Agent Lindsay Schloemer seeking to allow federal agents the ability to search an iPhone, laptop and thumbdrive owned by Steven Brandenburg.The contents of the document, which were first reported by The Daily Beast reporter Justin Rohrlich, shed new light on the investigation which has garnered international attention during the pandemic and the global efforts by health officials to administer as many doses of the vaccine to as many people as quickly and safely as possible.The document relies heavily on the statement of one of Brandenburg’s coworkers at Advocate Aurora Health Systems.The coworker told investigators when she found the box of Moderna vaccine outside the refrigerator on Dec. 26 at 3 a.m., she suspected Brandenburg was responsible partly because he was the only other person working the third at shift at the time and because of conspiracies the coworker said Brandenburg consistently shared.”Brandenburg has explained to (the coworker) that he does not believe the coronavirus is real, and he thinks the vaccine is going to harm people,” Schloemer wrote of the coworker’s account to AAHS investigators. “Brandenburg thinks that the vaccine is ‘microchipped’ and will turn off people’s birth control and make others infertile.”The coworker, the document added, said Brandenburg made her uncomfortable about reporting her suspicions when he waited for her outside the only exit to the cubicle in which she worked.”If I lose this job, I lose my kids,” the coworker recalled, according to the document, fearing Brandenburg may become “desperate” or “unhinged.”When the coworker was interviewed by FBI agents and members of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Office of Criminal Investigation, she shared specifics of the various conspiracy theories she said Brandenburg would share to anyone who would listen.She said Brandenburg sent text message which included, “the earth is flat; the sky is not real, rather it is a shield put up by the Government to prevent individuals from seeing God; and Judgement Day is coming.”She also said “Brandenburg showed her a gun at work, which he kept in his bag. Brandenburg stated it was a ‘.45’ and (he) kept it in case the military came to take him away.”The coworker told investigators “she believed Brandenburg carried a concealed handgun on his person at work because the clothes he was wearing ‘bulged out.’”When Brandenburg initially spoke to AAHS investigators, he claimed he left the box out by mistake when he noticed products from another bin had spilled and tended to those, according to the document. The next time Brandenburg spoke to the investigators, he admitted to intentionally taking the box out of the refrigerator during shifts on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.Shortly after the conversation, Schloemer said Brandenburg sent an email to AAHS investigators to confess his actions and express remorse.”I intentionally removed the box of COVID-19 vaccine from Moderna on two separate occasions,” Brandenburg wrote, according to a copy of the email filed with the affidavit.” I did so with the purpose of allowing the vaccine to be outside the temperature range so that it would not be effective.”My actions were inexcusable and I deeply apologize for the harm I have caused,” the email continued.The email also referenced Brandenburg’s pending divorce, which his wife filed for in June 2020 according to records, and medication.”On the nights in question, I had taken clonazepam earlier in the day in an effort to help me get rest so I could function at work,” the email said. “Given that combination of circumstances, I was not thinking clearly and acted in a manner not befitting a professional, regardless of my personal views on the vaccine related issue.” The email was signed “Steven Brandenburg.”The day after the email, Brandenburg met with FBI agents and Grafton detectives at his home.Schloemer said Brandenburg admitted to leaving the box of vaccine out of the refrigerator for three hours on Dec. 24 and nine hours on Dec. 25.He also told them his attempt to destroy the vaccine was a spontaneous act by a person who wasn’t thinking straight because of what was going on in his life.”Investigators asked how this could be a spontaneous act when Brandenburg did it two days in a row. Brandenburg did not have an answer,” Schloemer wrote.Schloemer said AAHS had a previously scheduled vaccine clinic planned for Dec. 26, the day the coworker reported having found the box of vaccine outside the refrigerator. Prior to the clinic, AAHS officials were aware of the coworker’s report and proceeded with the clinic because officials “were under the impression that the vaccine was left out inadvertently for a duration of time less than 12 hours, and they did not want the vaccines to be wasted.”During the clinic, 57 patients were given the Moderna vaccine which had been left out of refrigeration by Brandenburg, Schloemer added.”The AAHS administrator advised that if AAHS had known the vaccine was also removed from refrigeration on Dec. 24, 2020, they would have not used the vaccine,” investigators wrote.Officials previously said they were waiting to learn whether the 57 doses had any effect on the patients.Brandenburg signed an agreement to plead guilty to two federal charges of attempted tampering with consumer products. He is due in court Feb. 9, where a judge will determine whether to accept the plea.Brandenburg is also facing a misdemeanor charge of attempted criminal damage to property in Ozaukee County Circuit Court. He is due in court on the state charge March 18.Brandenburg was fired from the hospital.A state board has also suspended his pharmacy license.

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