Suspect in Christmas Parade Tragedy Talks to Fox News

Darrell Brooks says he feels he's being 'demonized'
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 2, 2021 3:01 AM CST
Suspect in Christmas Parade Tragedy Talks to Fox News
Darrell Brooks, center, is escorted out of the courtroom after making his initial appearance in a case regarding multiple people who were killed or injured when an SUV was driven into a Christmas parade, in Waukesha County Court, Tuesday, Nov. 23, 2021, in Waukesha, Wis.   (Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel via AP, Pool)

The man suspected of driving through a Christmas parade in Waukesha, Wis., last month, killing six people and injuring 62 others, says he's being "dehumanized." Darrell Brooks, charged with six counts of intentional first-degree homicide, on Wednesday gave an interview to Fox News from inside the Waukesha County Jail, his first public comments since the tragedy. "I just feel like I'm being monster—demonized," he said. But he offered no clarity on what happened that day. Brooks, who sobbed at times during a court appearance in the case last month, appeared to do so again during the interview after learning his mother had released a statement that same day on his mental health, but he walked away from the video screen during that portion of the interview. Otherwise, per Fox, he appeared "calm" and "lucid."

As for the aforementioned statement, it was issued by his mother as well as other members of Brooks' family, and it reads in part, per CBS 58, "We are not making excuses but we believe what has happened is because he was not given the help and resources he needed." It says Brooks, who came from a "loving Christian family" and is the grandson of ministers, started struggling with mental health issues from a young age. "Institutions that are equipped and have trained staff is what was needed as well as resources in the communities where people who suffer with mental illness live," the letter says, but "instead of offering help and resources to combat the problem a jail cell was given. Over and over again." The letter offers condolences to the victims and their families, and calls for the country to fix a broken system. (More Waukesha parade stories.)

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