Darrell Brooks was found guilty on Tuesday of driving into a Christmas parade in Waukesha, Wisconsin last November, killing six people and injuring 61 more. A bogus Reddit post purporting to be written by one of the jurors threatened to derail the trial just before the decision was reached.
The post, authored by anonymousbrooksjuror on the now-deleted subreddit r/Justice4Darrell, began, “So, to begin with, it’s quite evident that I shouldn’t be here.” “I am not permitted to research this trial (or really have any connection with the Internet, but nobody actually follows sequestering rules anyway). Consequently, I am posting anonymously.”
The post continued by labeling the trial a “total kangaroo court” and stating that they thought Brooks to be guilty, but that he had not received a fair trial because Judge Jennifer Dorow was “prejudiced” against him and he had “not been given the opportunity to defend his case in court.”
This subreddit has made me aware of jury nullification, for which I am quite glad. A moderator of the subreddit, which had fewer than 1,000 members, stated in a comment beneath the initial post that they had “provided proof” that they were a juror and that they were “quite sure in the legitimacy of this user’s allegations.”
On November 21, 2021, Brooks drove his car into a procession of people, for which he faced a total of 76 criminal charges in the trial that began in early October. Brooks stated that he did not purposely drive into the parade and that the car may have malfunctioned as closing arguments concluded on Tuesday. Prosecutors refuted his statements, noting that he struck 68 individuals throughout the incident.
On October 24, 2022, Darrell Brooks may be seen in a video on his trail lifting boxes to construct a fort.
Image: Law & Crime Network
The matter became TikTok’s newest legal preoccupation
The trial dominated TikTok for an entire month as videos of Brooks’ bizarre courtroom behavior gained hundreds of thousands of views, including clips of Brooks constantly arguing and interrupting Judge Dorow, glaring, building a box fort, and being transferred to a different courtroom for being disruptive.
Brooks also claimed in court that he was a sovereign citizen, a movement of conspiracy theorists who erroneously assert they are exempt from US law and government control. Previously, legal experts told Insider that Brooks’ strategy may have been to induce a mistrial.
The Reddit post was the ultimate twist in a trial that was already difficult to ignore. Brooks stated in court that a mistrial should be considered for the case in question.
Brooks stated, “This is worrisome to say the least.” Evidently, this calls into question the court’s and jurors’ integrity, which is troubling.
In response, Judge Dorow acknowledged the existence of the post but stated that she had turned it over to law enforcement and that it would have no bearing on the outcome of the trial.
After a few hours, the post was revised.
A new statement at the top of the post stated, “This was all a practical joke.” “I did not expect this to go to this degree. We apologize.”
In addition, they signed off with “love, rdrama,” a reference to the subreddit r/Drama, which is notorious for spreading fake narratives and rumors.