Brian Langhammer, a Vineyard Haven man charged by Tisbury Police with one count of threat to commit a crime (murder), appeared remotely before Edgartown District Court Judge Benjamin Barnes on Friday. Langhammer Zoomed in from the custody of the Dukes County Jail, after apparently failing to make the $10,000 bail previously set by Judge Paul Pino. Langhammer is accused of making online threats to police. Langhammer’s attorney, Matt Jackson, told the court he intends to file a motion to dismiss the case. Judge Barnes set a motion hearing for August 12.
Langhammer’s charges date from early June. Langhammer was taken into custody by Tisbury and Massachusetts on June 7 following a traffic stop, and brought to Martha’s Vineyard Hospital for a mental health evaluation. At some point, a Facebook post was unearthed.
“During this investigation,” a report states, “on June 7th, 2022, a Facebook profile that is commonly known to be used by Brian Langhammer, named ‘Brian Lingam,’ posted a photo of a pig or a boar in crosshairs of a firearm scope, with the caption: ‘Warm up those bagpipes, #Martha’sVineyard. Justice is coming.”
In his application for the criminal complaint, Tisbury Det. Charles Duquette wrote, “In my training as a police officer, I know bagpipes to be symbolic of being part of police officer funerals. Furthermore, when this post references incoming ‘justice,’ I believe in my training and experience as a police officer that statements like these are indicative of actions wanted to be taken.” The narrative goes on to point out that “pig” is a derogatory term for a police officer.
