Waukesha Christmas parade attack

On November 21, 2021, at approximately 4:39 p.m., 39-year-old Darrell Edward Brooks Jr. drove a red 2010 Ford Escape SUV past barricades and into the annual Christmas parade in downtown Waukesha, Wisconsin. Witnesses and police reported that Brooks drove at roughly 40 miles per hour in a "zig-zag pattern," and prosecutors alleged he was attempting to strike and hurt as many people as possible. A police officer banged on the hood of the vehicle in an attempt to stop it, and another officer fired his weapon during the final stage of the incident. The parade was live-streamed and also captured on video by bystanders, footage that was later shared on social media.

Five people were confirmed dead in the immediate aftermath, and 48 others were reported injured. Four of the five initial victims were members of the Milwaukee Dancing Grannies, a group composed of grandmothers. By November 23, two days later, the death toll rose to six after an 8-year-old child died in the hospital, and the number of injured rose to 62. Victims' ages ranged from 8 to 81. Hospitals admitted 28 people, nine in critical condition, and 17 children were among the wounded.

Brooks was arrested the night of the attack after approaching a Waukesha resident to ask for help calling a rideshare; he surrendered to police without incident. He had an extensive criminal history dating to 1999, including a 2006 felony conviction for statutory sexual seduction in Nevada, an outstanding 2016 warrant for a sex crime in Nevada, lifetime sex-offender registration in Wisconsin since 2020, a 2020 firearm charge in Milwaukee, a May 2021 domestic violence arrest in Georgia, and a November 2, 2021 incident in which he was charged with running over his ex-girlfriend with his vehicle. He had posted $1,000 bail in that case on November 19, 2021, two days before the parade attack.

Brooks was initially charged with five counts of first-degree intentional homicide, later increased to six after the sixth victim's death, along with 70 additional charges including reckless endangerment, hit-and-run, bail jumping, and domestic abuse counts. He chose to represent himself at trial, which began October 3, 2022, before Judge Jennifer Dorow. He raised pseudolegal "sovereign citizen" arguments that the court rejected, and was repeatedly removed from the courtroom for failing to comply with courtroom decorum. On October 26, 2022, a jury convicted him on all 76 counts after roughly three hours of deliberation. On November 16, 2022, Dorow sentenced him to six consecutive life sentences without parole, plus 762 years of additional confinement and 305 years of extended supervision.

The attack prompted public reactions from Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers, President Joe Biden, U.S. senators, and Pope Francis, and drew scrutiny of the bail-setting process that led to Brooks's release before the attack. Law enforcement stated no motive was established, and reported no evidence that Brooks belonged to an organized group, despite social-media posts of his being cited by outside groups in unsubstantiated claims about motive.