Darrell Brooks Gets 6 Life Sentences For Fatal Wisconsin Christmas Attack
Darrell Brooks, the Wisconsin man who drove his SUV into a crowd during a Christmas parade in Waukesha last year, has been given a life sentence for each person whose life he took—plus an additional 700 years.
The jury found Brooks, who defended himself in court last month, guilty on all 76 counts stemming from the attack, according to CNN. Brooks also sat through two days of emotional statements from victims and family members of the slain before Judge Jennifer Dorow imposed the sentence which runs consecutively—meaning the 40-year-old will never see the outside of prison.
Brooks was also charged with 61 counts of first-degree recklessly endangering safety with the use of a dangerous weapon. This was in addition to the six counts of first-degree intentional homicide with the use of a dangerous weapon charges.
“You have absolutely no remorse for anything that you do. You have no empathy for anyone,” Judge Dorow said. “Frankly, Mr. Brooks, no one is safe from you.”
As he continued to explain his actions, Brooks again addressed the court—this time for two hours, saying, in part, “The why, the how,” Brooks said. “How could life ever get this far away from what it should be? Regardless of what a lot of people may think about me, about who I am, about my family, about my beliefs, I know who I am. God knows who I am, and I don’t have any words of anger.”
He launched attacks at the Waukesha County District Attorney and others. Meanwhile, his grandmother Mary Edwards said, per CNN, that she hoped he would “sincerely and humbly apologize,” and offered her own apology.
Brooks did tell the court, “I want you to know not only am I sorry for what happened, I’m sorry that you could not see what’s truly in my heart, that you cannot see the remorse that I have. That you cannot count all the tears that I have dropped in this year.”