Darrell Brooks, the posterboy for progressive sentencing reform, was found guilty today of six counts of first degree murder and 61 other felony counts. Michael Ruiz of Fox News reports that the jury held Brooks accountable for driving an SUV through the Waukesha, Wisconsin Christmas Parade on November 21 of last year, killing six and injuring dozens. Brooks, a habitual felon with a 50-page rap sheet, chose to represent himself at trial, insulting the judge and intimidating witnesses. It took a day-and-a-half for the jury to reach its unanimous verdict. In Wisconsin a conviction of intentional first-degree murder carries a mandatory life sentence. Days before he ran down paradegoers, a Milwaukee judge released Brooks on $1,000 bail after he ran over his child’s mother with the same SUV during a domestic dispute. At that time, he was free on bail awaiting charges of illegally carrying and firing a gun during an argument with his nephew.
Brooks is a registered sex offender in Nevada. He was convicted of obstructing an officer in 2005 and 2003. In 2002 he had another felony marijuana charge. In 2010 he pleaded no contest to felony strangulation charges after allegedly attacking a woman during an argument about phone calls. In 2012 he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor bail jumping and marijuana charges. A year earlier he pleaded guilty to felony marijuana charges and resisting arrest. Apparently, none of these crimes were serious enough to convince the Milwaukee judge to hold him without bail after he ran over his girlfriend.
How many more examples do we need of what happens when the law and those who enforce it are more concerned about the interests of criminals than their victims and the law-abiding public?
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