Waukesha Christmas Parade suspect faces 71 additional charges

Darrell Brooks now faces 77 counts related to the Waukesha Christmas Parade attack, which killed six people and injured dozens of others, after prosecutors filed 71 additional charges Wednesday.

The 39-year-old Brooks will have a preliminary hearing Friday morning. Shortly after the attack, prosecutors charged him with six counts of first-degree intentional homicide. The additional charges include 61 first-degree counts of "recklessly endangering safety," six counts of "hit and run-involved death," two felony counts of bail jumping, and two domestic abuse counts of battery.

In November 2021, Brooks was released on $1,000 bail after allegedly driving over the mother of his child with a car, despite scoring extremely high on Milwaukee County's pre-trial risk assessment. Five days after being bonded out, he allegedly committed the Christmas Parade attack.

Sen. Ron Johnson honored the victims of the attack on the Senate floor in December by holding a moment of silence. He later pushed the Department of Justice for answers on pretrial release. The Milwaukee County district attorney said Brooks' bail for the November charge was "inappropriately low" bail which was "not consistent with the risk assessment of the defendant prior to setting of bail."