You might have believed that Darrell Brooks, a crazy man, was guilty of mass murdering a Christmas crowd in which he drove his vehicle. This would be a vindication for justice. Wrong! It was wrong! She wrote in the Watertown Daily Times, that the verdict in which defendant was convicted of being a violent criminal and sex offender, was racist and unjust. Why? Continue reading:
The judge repeatedly interrupted Mr. Brooks throughout the trial and refused to allow him to speak. The judge even denied Mr. Brooks the right to call additional witnesses or to testify. Given the treatment he received over the last year and throughout his entire life, Mr. Brooks’ actions are completely justifiable.
Most of the witnesses were white. The judge was also complicit in their ganging up to spread lies. The judge repeatedly ordered Mr. Brooks (a black man) to stop talking. He also moved Mr. Brooks to another room and muted him when she disagreed with his statements.
What anti-bias training did the jury members receive? Was there any anti-racist training? Does the jury have a clear understanding of what equity means in the criminal justice system? Why was Mr. Brooks not allowed to argue for jury nullification?
The Wisconsin legislature created the criminal laws. In every case involving a person with a color, jury nullification should always be considered.
We have learned very little from George Floyd’s story. It has not changed in the two years since George Floyd’s death. Racism is still alive and well outside the Wisconsin courtrooms. It is time to look in the mirror, and consider our white privilege.
We will continue to be silent, allowing more black men to fill our prisons because of our complicity in racism. White silence is violence and another black man will spend his entire life behind bars due to it.
Laura Halbert
Watertown
She didn’t ask the six white men why they thought they were so important to hinder the progress of a black man in Waukesha on his SUV. They are against “driving as black”?
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Without the moral voice of Laura Halberts, where would we be? I ask you.
Here’s an image of Jackson Sparks, eight years old, who was one Brooks’s victims on that fateful day. The child had been to a Christmas parade. Brooks shot him. Laura Halbert, Watertown, Wis. should wake up every morning to see the image of this poor boy. As Halbert suggests, he might have thought about his white privilege but couldn’t see the mirror because he was driving under Darrell Brooks.
