The judge overseeing the trial for the man accused of killing six and wounding dozens in a 2021 Christmas parade said Friday the defendant was frightening her in court.
Darrell Brooks Jr., 40, slammed the table with his fists and became silent while fixing Judge Jennifer Dorow with an unblinking stare shortly after she said his accusations the state had coached his own witnesses “had absolutely no basis in fact.”
“This man right now is having a stare-down with me. It’s very disrespectful. He pounded his fist. Frankly, it makes me scared,” Judge Jennifer Dorow said in court while the jury was out of the room on Friday, calling for a break in proceedings.
Brooks has been representing himself in a trial fraught with his frequent interruptions and outbursts in what prosecutors have characterized as an attempt to “stall, delay, disrupt, intimidate.”
Brooks is accused of driving a red SUV down the Waukesha, Wisconsin, parade route late last year and charged with six counts of first-degree intentional homicide, 61 counts of recklessly endangering safety, six counts of hit-and-run causing death, two counts of bail jumping — all felonies in connection to the parade tragedy — and one count of misdemeanor battery related to an incident with his ex-girlfriend.
Brooks was removed to another courtroom to participate virtually repeatedly on Friday, the latest move by the judge to control daily outbursts and interruptions from Brooks. Dorow allowed Brooks to come back to the main courtroom after some breaks.
Brooks’ witnesses Friday included his ex-girlfriend, whom he allegedly assaulted before driving the SUV down the parade route. He questioned his witnesses’ credibility and recollections of what they saw at the parade.
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