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Man who drove SUV into Waukesha Christmas parade found guilty of intentional homicide

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CNN  —  Darrell Brooks was found guilty of six counts of first-degree 
intentional homicide on Wednesday for driving his SUV into a crowd of 
Christmas parade attendees in Waukesha, Wisconsin, last November, killing 
six people and wounding dozens more.

He faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison for the convictions.

Brooks, 40, also was convicted of 61 counts of recklessly endangering 
safety with the use of a dangerous weapon, six counts of fatal hit and 
run, two counts of felony bail jumping and one count of misdemeanor 
domestic battery – a clean sweep for the prosecution.

Brooks represented himself in court and has been combative throughout the 
trial, repeatedly speaking over the judge to make inane and outlandish 
arguments. Yet as the stream of guilty verdicts were read Wednesday, he 
looked down, put his head on his hands and sat silently.

The trial comes less than a year after he drove a red SUV through the 
crowd in Waukesha’s Christmas parade on November 21, killing an 8-year-old 
boy and several members of the “Dancing Grannies” group.

Brooks had been released from jail less than two weeks prior in a domestic 
abuse case, on a $1,000 bail that prosecutors later acknowledged was 
“inappropriately low.” In that case, he allegedly ran over a woman who 
said she’s the mother of his child, according to court documents.

Prosecutors said in closing arguments Tuesday he intentionally drove 
through the crowd at significant speeds and hit 68 individual parade-
goers, turning a joyous afternoon into a horrific one.

“He reached speeds of approximately 30 mph. That’s intentional. He plowed 
through 68 different people. 68. How can you hit one and keep going? How 
can you hit two and keep going?” Waukesha County District Attorney Susan 
Opper said.

“His intent I do have to prove, and I submit without any doubt there’s 
overwhelming evidence that this was an intentional act by Darrell Brooks 
and an act of utter disregard for human life.”

In his own closing arguments, Brooks attempted to raise questions about 
the vehicle and about his intent. He repeatedly said there had been 
“misconceptions” and “lies” told about him during the trial.

“I’ve never heard of someone trying to intentionally hurt someone while 
attempting to blow their horn while attempting to alert people of their 
presence,” Brooks said.

Jurors deliberated on Tuesday night for just under two hours and then 
resumed again on Wednesday morning before quickly reaching its verdicts.

The family of Virginia Sorenson, the 79-year-old killed in the attack, 
thanked the jury for the verdicts.

“We have been praying for this day for a long time,” her son Marshall 
Sorenson said.

“This morning my five-year-old daughter came up to me and handed me this 
necklace with my mom’s ashes in it and she told me to take my mom with us 
for the sentencing so she was with us today,” he continued. “My mom always 
used to tell us when we were kids and our family, she always said, ‘Angels 
watch over you guys,’ so I just want to say, ‘Angels watch over you guys,’ 
and turn on those blue lights tonight.”

How the trial played out
In court, a series of videos and witnesses detailed the disturbing sights 
of the SUV ramming through the parade route.

“The band had just passed us, a red SUV … going maybe 30, 40 miles per 
hour, just went straight over the Waukesha South (high school) band,” said 
Kyle Jewell, a spectator who tried unsuccessfully to catch up to the SUV 
to stop it. “And it’s not like it stopped, it went over … it looked like 
it went in the air, like over a pretty big object, and it was just like a 
big old speed bump and kept going.”

Nicole White, who prosecutors said was the first person struck by Brooks’ 
vehicle, testified she sustained injuries to her spine and tailbone and 
suffered ligament damage to her right knee.

“I just remember being struck by the vehicle from behind on my back and 
then I fell to my knees and kind of rolled under the vehicle,” White said.

Brooks’ trial has been marked by his unusual decision to represent himself 
in court and his persistent disruptions. Throughout the trial, he has 
spoken over prosecutors and the judge, asked vague questions, challenged 
the court’s jurisdiction and declared “Darrell Brooks” is not his name.

Judge Jennifer Dorow has repeatedly removed Brooks from the court for his 
outbursts and placed him in a nearby courtroom, where he can communicate 
via a monitor and microphone which is most often muted.

On Tuesday, after removing him for the prosecution’s closing arguments due 
to interruptions, she called him “stubbornly defiant.”

“He continues to not respect the fact that a ruling has been made, and he 
wants to argue and reargue and reargue points that this court has already 
gone over,” she said.

Brooks previously pleaded not guilty by insanity, but his public defenders 
withdrew the insanity plea in September. The attorneys later filed a 
motion to withdraw from the case, and the judge ruled to allow Brooks to 
represent himself at trial.

Opper, the prosecuting attorney, told jurors in her closing arguments not 
to be distracted in their deliberations by Brooks’ conduct during the 
trial.

“You must not, not, not consider anything about Darrell Brooks other than 
his conduct in downtown Waukesha on the evening of November 21, 2021,” 
Opper told the jury. “Nothing he’s done before that, nothing he’s done 
since that. When you go back to that deliberation room, please obey Judge 
Dorow. Confine your comments to his conduct on November 21.”

Outside court on Wednesday, Opper said Brooks’ behavior was “taxing.”

“We felt very, very offended by his behavior, his disrespect of the court, 
the decorum, the families, in insulting the judge, in challenging the 
judge,” she said. “That’s not the way our system is designed. That was 
intentional on his part, we truly believe that, he did everything he can 
except claim that the dog ate his homework.”

https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/26/us/waukesha-christmas-parade-
trial/index.html

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Man who drove SUV into Waukesha Christmas parade found guilty of intentional homicide zinn <zinn@reno.us> - 2022-10-27 06:45 +0000

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