Darrell Edward Brooks Jr.

Darrell Edward Brooks Jr. was born on February 21, 1982, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He was raised primarily by his mother and grew up without a consistent father figure, though family members later stated that he had emotional support from relatives, including his grandmother. According to court records and family statements, Brooks was diagnosed with bipolar disorder at the age of twelve following a psychiatric hospitalization in 1994. From an early age, he struggled with emotional regulation, discipline, and authority.

Brooks had significant difficulties in school and did not complete his high school education. His involvement with the criminal justice system began while he was still a teenager. On September 5, 1999, he was charged with his first felony offense while still a high school junior. From that point forward, his adult life became marked by repeated arrests, convictions, and violations of probation across several states.

In November 2006, Brooks was convicted in Sparks, Nevada, of felony statutory sexual seduction after impregnating a fifteen year old girl. He pleaded guilty in March 2007 and was sentenced to a term of imprisonment. As a result of that conviction, he became a registered sex offender and was later required to register for life in Wisconsin. Over the following years, Brooks accumulated additional criminal charges in Wisconsin Rapids, Milwaukee, and Georgia, including offenses related to violence and domestic abuse.

On July 24, 2020, Brooks was charged in Milwaukee with second degree recklessly endangering safety and possession of a firearm by a felon after allegedly firing a gun at his nephew and another individual during a dispute. He was held on a ten thousand dollar bail, but due to court delays and procedural issues, his bail was later reduced to five hundred dollars. He was released from custody in February 2021.

In the months leading up to the Waukesha parade attack, Brooks was involved in multiple incidents of domestic violence involving his former girlfriend. On November 2, 2021, he allegedly punched her and then ran her over with his vehicle during an altercation. He was arrested and charged with felony offenses, including recklessly endangering safety with domestic abuse assessments. Despite the seriousness of the allegations, Brooks posted one thousand dollars bail and was released on November 19, 2021, just two days before the attack.

On the afternoon of November 21, 2021, the city of Waukesha, Wisconsin, was hosting its annual Christmas parade, the fifty eighth iteration of the event. The parade featured more than sixty entries and was attended by families, children, and community groups. The event had the theme Comfort and Joy and marked the parade’s return after being canceled the previous year due to the COVID nineteen pandemic.

At approximately four thirty nine p.m. Central Standard Time, Darrell Brooks drove a red two thousand ten Ford Escape sport utility vehicle past parade barricades and into the parade route. Witnesses and law enforcement later testified that Brooks was traveling at speeds approaching forty miles per hour. Police stated that he deliberately drove in a zigzag pattern in order to strike as many people as possible along the route.

Multiple parade participants and spectators were struck as Brooks continued driving through the crowd. Video footage from the live streamed parade and recordings from bystanders captured scenes of panic as people attempted to flee. A police officer attempted to stop the vehicle by striking the hood, and another officer later fired shots at the vehicle, but Brooks did not stop.

Six people were killed as a result of the attack. Four of the victims were members of the Milwaukee Dancing Grannies, a well known senior dance group. The ages of the deceased ranged from eight to eighty one years old. A total of sixty two people were injured, including seventeen children. Many of the victims required hospitalization, and several suffered permanent injuries.

After leaving the parade route, Brooks abandoned his damaged vehicle and fled on foot. He went to a nearby residence and told the homeowner that he was homeless, asking to use a phone to call an Uber. The homeowner, unaware of the attack, allowed Brooks inside briefly, gave him food and a jacket, and then asked him to leave when police began canvassing the neighborhood. Brooks was arrested shortly afterward and surrendered without resistance.

Investigators determined that Brooks acted alone and did not know any of the victims. Police confirmed that he was not being pursued by officers at the time of the attack, though he had fled a domestic disturbance involving his former girlfriend shortly before encountering the parade. Prosecutors later argued that Brooks intentionally drove into the crowd with the purpose of causing maximum harm.

Brooks was charged with six counts of first degree intentional homicide and numerous additional offenses, bringing the total number of charges to seventy six. He pleaded not guilty and elected to represent himself at trial. The trial began on October 3, 2022, in Waukesha County Circuit Court. Throughout the proceedings, Brooks repeatedly disrupted the court, made pseudolegal arguments associated with the sovereign citizen movement, and refused to follow courtroom decorum. He was removed from the courtroom multiple times and participated from a separate room via video feed.

On October 26, 2022, after several hours of deliberation, the jury found Brooks guilty on all counts. On November 16, 2022, he was sentenced to six consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole, along with more than seven hundred sixty years of additional imprisonment for reckless endangerment and hit and run offenses. He was also ordered to pay restitution exceeding five hundred thousand dollars.

The Waukesha Christmas parade attack remains one of the deadliest vehicle ramming attacks in United States history not connected to terrorism. The case prompted national discussion regarding bail decisions, domestic violence risk assessment, mental health intervention, and public event security. As of 2025, Darrell Edward Brooks Jr. remains incarcerated within the Wisconsin prison system and is expected to spend the remainder of his life in custody.