The 40-year-old man who is accused of killing six people and wounding dozens of others when he allegedly ran them over last year at a Christmas parade in Waukesha, Wisconsin, demanded that his case be dismissed this week because no victims were present to face him.
Darrell Brooks, who is now representing himself after firing his public defenders, went on a 50-minute rant in court Thursday morning about why the case against him needed to be dismissed.
“Where’s the injured party? Is the injured party present in court right now?” Brooks fumed. “Can anyone, can anyone make a claim against me? Can you make a claim against me, your honor?”
“Do you know of anyone that can make a claim against me, your honor? Can anyone right now in court, anyone, make a claim against me?” he continued. “And because of that, your honor, the motion to dismiss should be granted based on that alone. There is no injured party in this matter. So, who makes the claim? Who?”
Brooks is accused of driving his red Ford Escape into the crowd watching Waukesha’s annual Christmas parade on November 21, 2021. He rammed into dozens of parade watchers and killed six people, including an eight-year-old boy. He faces, in total, 76 felony and misdemeanor charges, including six counts of first-degree intentional homicide.
During the proceedings, Brooks has complained about paperwork, claimed he did not recognize his own name and claimed to be a “sovereign citizen” and subsequently not subject to the court’s jurisdiction, according to FOX 6 Milwaukee. Brooks even had an outburst in which he began stripping off his jail-issued clothing. These and other outbursts caused him to be removed from the courtroom multiple times while the jury was being selected last week.
He later apologized for his actions during jury selection.
“I would like to issue the court an apology from me in regards to my actions last week during the trial,” Brooks said. He continued, “I just want the court to understand it’s very emotional right now. Not only for just the whole situation of the trial. The families here to have to go through everything that’s going to be involved with the trial, but also my family as well and myself.”
He added: “It’s very, very emotional, but not to excuse my actions, I should have carried myself with better respect. I wasn’t raised that way. I owe you, your honor, and the court an apology.”
Late last year, Brooks complained in an interview about how he was being treated after the attack, claiming that he was being “dehumanized” and “demonized.”
Fox News reported that, prior to the Waukesha killings, Brooks had a rap sheet that was 50 pages long that included criminal charges which included attacks on women and members of his own family.
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