Twenty-six-year-old Braxton Louis Danley walked into an Army Recruiting Station in Harrisonburg, Virginia, in March of 2018 to take his pre-screening internet-delivered Computer Adaptive Test — a precursor to the ASVAB test.
But he failed, and after his recruiters repeatedly denied him the chance retake the test until he agreed to study, he became resentful, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Virginia.
What followed were years of Danley harassing and cyberstalking his main recruiter, identified in court documents as a female with the initials “J.J.”
“I remember every thing you pricks done to me so time to settle the score,” the Luray, Virginia, man wrote in a May 14, 2018 email to J.J.’s official Army email address, court documents show. The message was the first of many threatening text messages, emails and phone calls.
Danley even called the recruiting station later that day and told a different recruiter that the Army needed to arrest him (Danley) because he was angry.
Following the threatening email and phone call, J.J. contacted local law enforcement, which, on May 18, signed a No Trespass Notice barring Danley from the Harrisonburg recruiting station.
This only angered Danley more, court documents allege.
Two weeks later, on June 1, Danley sent a text message to J.J.’s official cell phone, saying, “so that’s how it is now you f*ck my goddamn record up. Now I can’t get a job anywhere ok you want to play.”
According to court documents, the recruiter did not in fact, want to play. She chose not to respond, and following a barrage of text messages from Danley, was issued a new official phone.
Nine days later, Danley used one of his parents’ Facebook accounts to send her more messages.
“Hey it Brax,” the first of three messages sent on July 10, 2018, read.
“Can’t under stand why you f*cked me over in that test guess cause I look like a drugy right ?... I try to fix my life and you f*cked it now im hunted by your people f*ck you none of you will walk away if you serve papers on me…a fight is here now face me.”
Following these messages, the recruiter sought and was granted a Preliminary Protective Order against Danley, which he violated with a Dec 23, 2018 Facebook post. The message was directed at J.J. and two other recruiters, telling them to “lock and load f*ckers ima at your doorstep now.”
Danley was promptly arrested, and convicted of misdemeanor charges of violation of protective order and sentenced to 12 months in prison in February 2019. However, he was released at the end of June 2019.
A few months after his release, Danley made another Facebook post, this time saying, “remember j rj this is to. you im coming to get you.”
Along with the threatening message, Danley also posted a link to a sKitz Kraven music video, depicting a brutal home invasion. The film follows a masked man as he ties up, tortures and kills the family who lived there, all to the tune of explicitly violent lyrics.
At one point, Danley was deemed mentally unfit to understand the severity of his actions and was briefly placed in the custody of the state’s Attorney General to receive treatment for his concerning mental health, documents revealed.
As a result, J.J. continued to seek legal action against Danley, who ultimately pled guilty to cyberstalking Dec. 20, 2021.
Danley’s sentencing trial is set for Feb. 1, 2022. He faces up to five years in prison if he receives the maximum sentence.
The case was investigated by the Harrisonburg Police Department and the FBI, and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ronald M. Huber.
Rachel is a Marine Corps veteran and a master's candidate at New York University's Business & Economic Reporting program.
