A judge sentenced a man who killed six people and injured dozens more when he drove his SUV into a suburban Milwaukee Christmas parade to life in prison without the possibility of parole Wednesday, rejecting arguments by him and his family that mental illness drove him to do.  the.
Waukesha Circuit Judge Jennifer Dorow sentenced Darrell Brooks Jr., 40, on 76 counts, including six counts of first-degree intentional homicide and 61 counts of reckless endangerment.
Each manslaughter count carried a mandatory life sentence, and the only uncertainty Wednesday was whether Dorrow would allow Brooks to serve any part of those sentences under extended community supervision, the state’s current version of parole.  He did not do it.  Wisconsin does not have the death penalty.
The gallery applauded as Dorow announced the life sentences.  Moments later she sentenced him to 762 years in prison on the endangerment charges.
“Honestly, Mr. Brooks, no one is safe from you,” said Darrow.  “This community can only be safe if you are behind bars for the rest of your life.  … You left a trail of destruction, chaos, death, injury and panic as you drove seven or so blocks in the Christmas parade.”
Dorrow asked bailiffs to move Brooks to another courtroom where she could participate via video after she became disruptive during her pre-sentencing remarks.  He stood motionless in his prison garb and handcuffs as the judge announced the sentences.
Brooks’ victims asked during a hearing Tuesday that Dorrow give him the harshest sentence possible.  Chris Owens, whose mother was among the dead, told Brooks: “All I ask is that you rot and rot slowly.”
Brooks drove his red Ford Escape in the parade in downtown Waukesha on Nov. 21, 2021, after fighting with his ex-girlfriend.  Six people were killed, including 8-year-old Jackson Sparks, who was marching with the baseball team, and three members of a group known as the Dancing Grannies.  Dozens of others were injured.
On Wednesday, before the judge handed down her sentence, Brooks told the court that she had suffered from mental illness since she was a child and did not plan to drive the parade route.  He also offered his first apology to the dozens of people who were injured or lost loved ones during the incident.
Brooks, who represented himself at trial, told Dorrow in statements made over the past two hours that he grew up orphaned, poor and hungry in rat- and bug-infested tenements.  Brooks said he has struggled with mental health issues for as long as he can remember and that he was physically abused, though he did not say specifically by whom.  From time to time he took medication and had short stints in a mental health facility, and life was better then, he said.
“People, like I said, will believe what they want, and that’s fine.  This must be said: What happened on November 21, 2021, was not, no, not an attack.  It wasn’t planned, it wasn’t planned,” Brooks said, later adding, “It wasn’t an intentional act.  No matter how many times you say it over and over, it wasn’t.”
Brooks also offered his first apology to the victims and their families.
“I want you to know that I’m not only sorry for what happened, I’m sorry that you couldn’t see what’s really in my heart,” she said.  “That you can’t see the regrets I have.”
But Brooks didn’t explain his motive or offer any other information about what he was thinking as he turned the SUV into the parade.  When Dorrow asked him what proposal he thought he should take, he did not answer directly, but said, “I just want to be helped.”
Brooks’ mother and grandmother tried to convince Dorrow to commit Brooks to a mental institution rather than prison.  His grandmother, Mary Edwards, said Brooks had been bipolar since he was 12, and that disorder led him to the parade.  His mother, Dawn Woods, pressed Dorow to make sure Brooks gets treatment in prison.
“If they have to spend the rest of their lives away from society, at least they’re getting the help they need to get mentally well,” Woods said.
Brooks was seen crying as his mother spoke.
Dorow said before handing down the sentences that she does not believe Brooks is mentally ill, pointing out that four psychologists who evaluated him earlier this year found him to suffer from an antisocial personality disorder but not a mental illness.
“I believe that mental health issues did not cause him to do what he did on November 21, 2021 and frankly did not play a role,” the judge said on Wednesday.  “It’s very clear to me that he understands the difference between right and wrong and just chooses to ignore his conscience.  It is fueled by anger and rage.”
Dorrow spent most of Tuesday listening to dozens of victims plead for Brooks to get the maximum sentence.  One by one they described frantically searching for their children in the immediate aftermath, the pain their children have endured as they still struggle to recover from their injuries, and the emptiness they feel as they deal with the loss of their dead loved ones.
Prosecutor Susan Opper asked Dorow on Tuesday to make the sentences consecutive so they would pile up “like he was piling up the victims as he drove down the road,” with no possibility of extended supervised release.
Brooks chose to represent himself during his month-long trial, which was marked by his erratic outbursts.  He refused to answer his name, frequently interrupted Dorow, and often refused to stop talking.  Several times the judge asked bailiffs to move Brooks to another courtroom where he could participate via video, but she could mute his microphone when he became disruptive, as he did that Wednesday.
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Richmond reported from Madison, Wisconsin.