Milwaukee City Wire

On Sunday, Nov. 21 a driver of an SUV drove into crowds at Waukesha’s annual Christmas parade killing at least five people and injuring 40 others.

The New York Times reported that during Waukesha’s 58th annual Christmas parade, the theme of which this year was “Comfort and Joy,” at approximately 4:30 p.m., someone drove a red SUV into the parade, injuring dozens of people, including children. Waukesha Police Chief Daniel Thompson said that they had a person of interest in custody. He also added that police officers at the parade fired shots at the SUV driver in an attempt to stop him.

Milwaukee-area amateur rapper Darrell Brooks Jr., who goes by the alias MathBoi Fly, was brought in for questioning, but has not been named as a suspect or charged, according to News.com.au. Brooks was bailed out of prison just days before the parade. CNN and NBC reported that there does not appear to be a link to either terrorism or the verdict in the Kyle Rittenhouse case.

“As we were walking back in between the buildings that we saw an SUV crossover, just put the pedal to the metal and just zooming full speed along the parade route,” a witness told Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, according to News.com.au. “And then we heard a loud bang, and just deafening cries and screams from people who are struck by the vehicle. And then, we saw people running away or stopping crying, and there, there are people on the ground who looked like they’d been hit by the vehicle.”

Brooks has a long history of criminal activities, including reckless endangerment, battery, domestic abuse, resisting arrest, bail jumping, obstructing officers, a felony marijuana charge and felony possession of a firearm, FOX News reported. He is also a registered sex offender in Nevada.

"Milwaukee shares its deepest condolences with our neighbors in Waukesha," Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett wrote in a Nov. 22 Twitter post. "Yesterday should have been a time of seasonal joy. Instead, we are all praying for the injured and mourning those who were killed."