# Waukesha Christmas parade attack
The Waukesha Christmas parade attack was a vehicle-ramming attack on November 21, 2021, in [Waukesha, Wisconsin](https://www.edgepedia.org/waukesha-wisconsin), in which Darrell Brooks Jr. drove an SUV through barricades into the city's annual Christmas parade, killing six people[1](https://www.npr.org/2022/11/16/1137329530/judge-sentences-man-to-life-in-prison-for-waukesha-christmas-parade-attack). Brooks was convicted in October 2022 on all 76 counts against him, including six counts of first-degree intentional homicide, and was sentenced to six consecutive life terms without the possibility of extended supervision, plus 762 years on the remaining counts[2](https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/16/us/darrell-brooks-waukesha-sentencing) • [1](https://www.npr.org/2022/11/16/1137329530/judge-sentences-man-to-life-in-prison-for-waukesha-christmas-parade-attack).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Date and place | November 21, 2021, Main Street, downtown Waukesha, Wisconsin, during the city's Christmas parade[3](https://www.npr.org/2021/11/22/1057894472/what-we-know-about-the-waukesha-christmas-parade-incident) |
| Perpetrator | Darrell Brooks Jr., 39 at the time, of Milwaukee; he had been freed on $1,000 bail six days earlier in a domestic abuse case[4](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/22/us/driver-parade-crash-suspect.html) |
| Casualties | Six people killed, including 8-year-old Jackson Sparks and three members of the Dancing Grannies; initial counts reported 48 to more than 60 injured[1](https://www.npr.org/2022/11/16/1137329530/judge-sentences-man-to-life-in-prison-for-waukesha-christmas-parade-attack) • [3](https://www.npr.org/2021/11/22/1057894472/what-we-know-about-the-waukesha-christmas-parade-incident) • [5](https://www.nytimes.com/article/wisconsin-parade-attack-what-we-know.html) |
| Verdict | Guilty on all 76 counts, October 2022, including six counts of first-degree intentional homicide with use of a dangerous weapon[2](https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/16/us/darrell-brooks-waukesha-sentencing) |
| Sentence | Six consecutive life sentences without extended supervision, plus 762 years on 61 reckless endangerment counts; Wisconsin has no death penalty[1](https://www.npr.org/2022/11/16/1137329530/judge-sentences-man-to-life-in-prison-for-waukesha-christmas-parade-attack) |
| Terrorism finding | Police ruled out terrorism as a motive and said there was no evidence of a terrorist incident[6](https://www.reuters.com/world/us/suspect-wisconsin-parade-attack-appear-court-prosecutor-prepares-charges-2021-11-23/) • [3](https://www.npr.org/2021/11/22/1057894472/what-we-know-about-the-waukesha-christmas-parade-incident) |
## Background
The parade was a holiday event in Waukesha, a city of the [Milwaukee](https://www.edgepedia.org/milwaukee) suburbs, moving along Main Street on a Sunday afternoon in late November[7](https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/11/23/how-events-unfolded-waukesha-parade/) • [5](https://www.nytimes.com/article/wisconsin-parade-attack-what-we-know.html).
**The perpetrator.** Darrell E. Brooks, 39, of Milwaukee, had a record of charges or convictions over the previous 22 years in several Wisconsin jurisdictions, including battery, domestic violence, cocaine possession, and resisting arrest[4](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/22/us/driver-parade-crash-suspect.html). Prosecutors said he also had a criminal history in three states[6](https://www.reuters.com/world/us/suspect-wisconsin-parade-attack-appear-court-prosecutor-prepares-charges-2021-11-23/). Six days before the attack he had been freed on $1,000 bail after being accused of trying to run over his girlfriend with the same SUV, a maroon 2010 [Ford Escape](https://www.edgepedia.org/ford-escape)[4](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/22/us/driver-parade-crash-suspect.html).
## The attack
The parade was moving through Main Street at 4:35 p.m.; shortly before the crash, an officer blocks away reported hearing of a possible knife fight nearby[7](https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/11/23/how-events-unfolded-waukesha-parade/). Waukesha Police Chief Daniel Thompson said Brooks had just left the scene of a domestic disturbance involving a knife and, minutes later, intentionally drove his maroon SUV through barricades into the crowd less than an hour into the parade[3](https://www.npr.org/2021/11/22/1057894472/what-we-know-about-the-waukesha-christmas-parade-incident).
A couple of blocks east of where the parade started, the driver passed a police squad car and a barricade and entered the parade route[8](https://apnews.com/article/waukesha-wisconsin-christmas-parade-crash-what-happened-daee4565c7a36e88029c5fe6393d1be3). Videos and witness accounts showed the SUV speeding alongside the marchers in a mostly empty parking lane, narrowly missing people in the parade and along the street, before striking the crowd[8](https://apnews.com/article/waukesha-wisconsin-christmas-parade-crash-what-happened-daee4565c7a36e88029c5fe6393d1be3). The suspect was taken into custody almost immediately[3](https://www.npr.org/2021/11/22/1057894472/what-we-know-about-the-waukesha-christmas-parade-incident).
## Victims and emergency response
Six people were killed. Among those killed were Jackson Sparks, an 8-year-old boy taking part in the parade alongside his baseball team, and three women from a collective called the Dancing Grannies[1](https://www.npr.org/2022/11/16/1137329530/judge-sentences-man-to-life-in-prison-for-waukesha-christmas-parade-attack). Initial police counts reported five dead and 48 injured; the New York Times' initial accounting put the injured at more than 60[3](https://www.npr.org/2021/11/22/1057894472/what-we-know-about-the-waukesha-christmas-parade-incident) • [5](https://www.nytimes.com/article/wisconsin-parade-attack-what-we-know.html).
Waukesha Fire Chief Steven Howard said 11 adults and 12 pediatric patients had been transported to six area hospitals[3](https://www.npr.org/2021/11/22/1057894472/what-we-know-about-the-waukesha-christmas-parade-incident). Children's Wisconsin hospital in Milwaukee reported at midday on November 22 that it was treating 18 injured children, including two in critical condition; ten children were admitted to its intensive care unit, six in critical condition, three in serious condition, and one in fair condition[3](https://www.npr.org/2021/11/22/1057894472/what-we-know-about-the-waukesha-christmas-parade-incident).
## Investigation, prosecution, and sentencing
On November 23, 2021, Brooks was charged in Waukesha County Circuit Court with five counts of first-degree intentional homicide, and a court commissioner set bail at $5 million[6](https://www.reuters.com/world/us/suspect-wisconsin-parade-attack-appear-court-prosecutor-prepares-charges-2021-11-23/).
**The insanity plea.** In June 2022 Brooks entered a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity, but his public defenders withdrew the plea in September and then withdrew from representing him[2](https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/16/us/darrell-brooks-waukesha-sentencing). Brooks represented himself at trial[1](https://www.npr.org/2022/11/16/1137329530/judge-sentences-man-to-life-in-prison-for-waukesha-christmas-parade-attack).
**Verdict and sentence.** In October 2022 a jury found Brooks, by then 40, guilty on all 76 counts, including six counts of first-degree intentional homicide with use of a dangerous weapon[2](https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/16/us/darrell-brooks-waukesha-sentencing). On November 16, 2022, Waukesha County Circuit Judge Jennifer Dorow sentenced him on all 76 charges[1](https://www.npr.org/2022/11/16/1137329530/judge-sentences-man-to-life-in-prison-for-waukesha-christmas-parade-attack). Each homicide count carried a mandatory life sentence; Dorow ordered the six life terms served consecutively without any possibility of extended supervision, Wisconsin's current version of parole, and imposed sentences on the 61 counts of first-degree recklessly endangering safety with use of a dangerous weapon, which were reported as totaling 762 years[1](https://www.npr.org/2022/11/16/1137329530/judge-sentences-man-to-life-in-prison-for-waukesha-christmas-parade-attack) • [2](https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/16/us/darrell-brooks-waukesha-sentencing). Wisconsin has no death penalty[1](https://www.npr.org/2022/11/16/1137329530/judge-sentences-man-to-life-in-prison-for-waukesha-christmas-parade-attack). Victims and family members delivered statements over two days before sentencing, and Brooks told the court the event was not planned or intentional[1](https://www.npr.org/2022/11/16/1137329530/judge-sentences-man-to-life-in-prison-for-waukesha-christmas-parade-attack).
## Mental state and classification
Four psychologists who evaluated Brooks found that he suffers from an anti-social personality disorder but not a mental illness, and Judge Dorow found that mental health issues did not cause the attack[1](https://www.npr.org/2022/11/16/1137329530/judge-sentences-man-to-life-in-prison-for-waukesha-christmas-parade-attack).
Officials consistently declined to treat the attack as terrorism. Police Chief Thompson said there was no evidence this was a terrorist incident[3](https://www.npr.org/2021/11/22/1057894472/what-we-know-about-the-waukesha-christmas-parade-incident), and police ruled out terrorism as a motive, saying Brooks acted alone[6](https://www.reuters.com/world/us/suspect-wisconsin-parade-attack-appear-court-prosecutor-prepares-charges-2021-11-23/).
## By the numbers
The case's figures trace its arc from bail to sentence. Brooks entered the weekend free on $1,000 bail in a domestic abuse case; within two days of the attack bail was set at $5 million on five homicide counts[4](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/22/us/driver-parade-crash-suspect.html) • [6](https://www.reuters.com/world/us/suspect-wisconsin-parade-attack-appear-court-prosecutor-prepares-charges-2021-11-23/). The final charges numbered 76: six counts of first-degree intentional homicide and 61 counts of first-degree recklessly endangering safety, both with use of a dangerous weapon, among other counts[1](https://www.npr.org/2022/11/16/1137329530/judge-sentences-man-to-life-in-prison-for-waukesha-christmas-parade-attack). The sentence combined six consecutive life terms with 762 years on the endangerment counts[1](https://www.npr.org/2022/11/16/1137329530/judge-sentences-man-to-life-in-prison-for-waukesha-christmas-parade-attack) • [2](https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/16/us/darrell-brooks-waukesha-sentencing). The pediatric medical load was substantial: 18 injured children under treatment at a single hospital, ten of them in intensive care[3](https://www.npr.org/2021/11/22/1057894472/what-we-know-about-the-waukesha-christmas-parade-incident).
## Immediate aftermath
The morning after the attack, local officials announced that the Waukesha County Community Foundation and United Way of Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha County were partnering to create a community fund to support the needs of affected families[3](https://www.npr.org/2021/11/22/1057894472/what-we-know-about-the-waukesha-christmas-parade-incident). Waukesha public schools closed on Monday with counselors made available, [Carroll University](https://www.edgepedia.org/carroll-university) canceled classes for the week, and the city operated a family reception center with counseling at Waukesha South High School[3](https://www.npr.org/2021/11/22/1057894472/what-we-know-about-the-waukesha-christmas-parade-incident).
## References
1. [The man who killed 6 in Waukesha Christmas parade gets life without release, NPR (November 16, 2022)](https://www.npr.org/2022/11/16/1137329530/judge-sentences-man-to-life-in-prison-for-waukesha-christmas-parade-attack)
2. [Darrell Brooks sentenced to 6 life terms for 2021 Waukesha Christmas parade attack, CNN (November 16, 2022)](https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/16/us/darrell-brooks-waukesha-sentencing)
3. [Waukesha Christmas parade: What we know about the incident, suspect and response, NPR (November 22, 2021)](https://www.npr.org/2021/11/22/1057894472/what-we-know-about-the-waukesha-christmas-parade-incident)
4. [What We Know About Darrell Brooks, Suspect in the Waukesha Parade Crash, The New York Times (November 22, 2021)](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/22/us/driver-parade-crash-suspect.html)
5. [What We Know and Don't Know About the Wisconsin Parade Attack, The New York Times](https://www.nytimes.com/article/wisconsin-parade-attack-what-we-know.html)
6. [Suspect in Wisconsin parade attack charged with homicide, court sets bail at $5 mln, Reuters (November 23, 2021)](https://www.reuters.com/world/us/suspect-wisconsin-parade-attack-appear-court-prosecutor-prepares-charges-2021-11-23/)
7. [How the events unfolded at Waukesha's Christmas parade in maps and graphics, The Washington Post (November 23, 2021)](https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/11/23/how-events-unfolded-waukesha-parade/)
8. ['Mama, are you OK?' In Waukesha, minutes of terror recounted, AP News](https://apnews.com/article/waukesha-wisconsin-christmas-parade-crash-what-happened-daee4565c7a36e88029c5fe6393d1be3)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › Conflict and security › Wars, campaigns, and incidents › Massacres, mass violence, and terrorist attacks*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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