WAUKESHA, Wis. — The man accused of driving an SUV into a crowd gathered for the Waukesha Christmas Parade last month, killing six people and injuring dozens more, said he felt “dehumanized” in his first public comments after his arrest, according to Fox News.
Authorities arrested Darrell Brooks Jr., 39, after police said he intentionally drove an SUV through barricades and into a crowd of people on Nov. 21. He faces six counts of first-degree intentional homicide in the deaths of Jackson Sparks, 8; Tamara Durand, 52; Jane Kulich, 52; LeAnna Owen, 71; Virginia Sorenson, 79; and Wilhelm Hospel, 81, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported. At least 62 people were injured, WMAQ-TV reported.
>> Related: Waukesha Christmas parade: What we know about the 6 victims
Brooks spoke Wednesday to Fox News Digital in a virtual visit at Waukesha County Jail. The news network described him as “calm” and “lucid” and said he took his time to answer questions from reporters.
“I just feel like I’m being monster – demonized,” he told Fox News. At one point during the interview, after reporters told him that his mother had released a statement criticizing the criminal justice system for failing him, the news station reported that he walked away and sounded as if he began to cry.
>> Related: Waukesha Christmas parade: 6th victim, a child, dies, prosecutor says
Brooks is a registered sex offender in Nevada and had been out on bond after allegedly running over a woman in a domestic incident at the time of the Nov. 21 crash, CNN reported, citing court records. In a pretrial risk assessment following his arrest in the domestic incident, officials warned that he “was very high risk for committing a new crime,” WITI reported. Still, his bond was inexplicably set at $1,000, an amount the district attorney’s office has since called “inappropriately low,” according to CNN.
Last month, a judge ordered Brooks held on a $5 million bail, citing a criminal history that includes arrests in Wisconsin, Nevada and Georgia, WDJT-TV reported.
Brooks remained jailed Thursday morning.
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