Man charged with threatening to kill Milwaukee County DA sent average of 78 emails a day

A West Allis man is facing felony charges for allegedly threatening to kill Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm and his family.

Brady Hammerer, 31, was charged last week with 11 counts of battery or threat to a judge, prosecutor or law enforcement officer.

Prosecutors say in a June 28 criminal complaint, Hammerer sent 11 emails to the District Attorney's Office threatening to kill Chisholm. The emails, laden with racial slurs and profanities, were cc'd to an office of U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas. They were sent from Hammerer's gmail account, allegedly at times while Hammerer was at his home, the complaint said.

"You guys gotta give me their addresses or charge them can't just have one assassinations and acting like senators, and da's John needs to die let me kill some of his family," reads one email that was sent May 11 at 7:07 a.m.

The investigation into the emails actually began days earlier when U.S. Capitol Police started looking into email sent to Cruz's office. Capitol police learned some of the messages were sent to Chisholm and contacted Milwaukee police. Attempts to reach Chisholm Friday were unsuccessful.

It appears Chisholm had been the target of threats for nearly two years.

Court papers say the emails dated to 2022 but were flagged as junk and filtered out. When Capitol police reached out in May 2024, the D.A.'s office removed that filter. They discovered more than 3,500 emails over seven weeks — or an average of 78 messages a day.

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Last month, investigators searched Hammerer's home. They found a Glock 19, two shotguns and an unloaded AR-15 rifle, as well as ammunition, a sword, a ballistic vest and security badges.

A family member told investigators Hammerer has in recent years become "delusional and paranoid" and all he talks about is politics and his anger at the "system," and "particularly the Milwaukee County District Attorney," according to the complaint.

The relative said she believed Hammerer's beef with the District Attorney's Office stems from his 2019 drunken driving case. She described him as "a danger to himself and society."

Court Commissioner Jeralyn Wendelberger on Wednesday ordered Hammerer to remain in custody at the Milwaukee County Jail and to undergo a competency examination. He remained in custody on Friday.

Chisholm, a Democrat, announced in January he would not seek reelection .

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Man charged with threatening to kill Milwaukee County DA sent average of 78 emails a day