Darrell Brooks Jr. had spent 10 days locked up in the Waukesha County Jail after allegedly plowing through a crowd of people during a Wisconsin Christmas parade, killing six and injuring dozens more.
As Brooks was held in jail, he was causing a whirlwind outside its walls. His name and mug shot were beamed to screens across the country. A court official called the accusations against him “shocking” and said his criminal record was “extraordinary.”
One of his ex-girlfriends described what he allegedly did as “a monstrous act … completely irredeemable.” On Wednesday, Brooks broke his silence.
“I just feel like I’m being [made out to be a] monster — demonized” and “dehumanized,” he told Fox News Digital. Brooks, 39, is charged with six counts of first-degree intentional homicide, accused of driving an SUV through a throng of parade participants and spectators on Nov. 21 in the Milwaukee suburb of Waukesha.
The six people who were killed range in age from 8 to 81. Brooks is being held on a $5 million bond. “I’ve not seen anything like this in my very long career,” Waukesha County Court Commissioner Kevin Costello said on Nov. 23 when he set the bail amount.
The state public defender’s office, which represents Brooks, did not respond to a request for comment from The Washington Post late Wednesday night. Before the parade incident, Brooks was at the scene of an alleged altercation involving a knife but sped off in a red SUV when police got there,
a law enforcement official has said. Waukesha Police Chief Daniel Thompson said officers were not chasing Brooks when he entered the parade. On Wednesday, the two Fox News Digital reporters who interviewed Brooks described him as soft-spoken, calm and lucid. READ MORE
