(WAUKESHA, Wis.) — Darrell Brooks is scheduled to be sentenced Wednesday for driving his SUV into a Christmas parade in Waukesha, Wisconsin, last year, killing six people and injuring dozens more.
Wednesday’s sentencing comes after dozens of victims of the attack confronted Brooks in angry, emotional statements on Tuesday.
Prior to Judge Jennifer Dorow’s sentencing, several people spoke on Brooks’ behalf in Waukesha County court on Wednesday over Zoom, starting with his mother, Dawn Brooks.
“Jail is not the only answer,” she told the court. “Help, treatment, hospitalization and medication — it plays a big role in preventing this, where we are today, if it would have been offered sooner.”
She also read the Maya Angelou poem “Caged Bird.”
“Everyone who suffers from mental illness is caged. All they want is to be free of their illness and become mentally well,” she said, adding that she believes society has an obligation to help others through treatment and medication.
Brooks’ grandmother, Mary Edwards, told the court that he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder at the age of 12.
“It was that disorder that caused him to drive through that crowd,” she said. “It is my prayer that he will be treated for this illness.”
A jury found Brooks, 40, guilty last month on all 76 counts, including six counts of first-degree intentional homicide, for barreling his SUV into a Christmas parade on Nov. 21, 2021.
Those killed were Tamara Durand, 52; Wilhelm Hospel, 81; Jane Kulich, 52; Leanna Owen, 71; Virginia Sorenson, 79; and Jackson Sparks, 8.
Addressing the court on Tuesday during the first day of the sentencing, survivors detailed how Brooks robbed them of their sense of personal safety, trust and peace and affected them physically and mentally. Parents recalled frantically searching for their children, and the injuries they endured in the attack. Family members honored the memory of those who were killed. Many who addressed the court asked for the maximum sentence possible.
Several of those who spoke in court were children who recounted the horror and long-lasting impact of that day.
“I know that I lost a piece of myself that day, and I’m still trying to find it,” one young victim who was dancing in the parade when the attack occurred told the court on Tuesday.
Another dancer who was injured in the parade spoke of being scared of cars at the bus stop.
“It is getting closer and closer to Nov. 21 and I don’t think I’m ready for this day to come,” the 12-year-old victim told the court on Tuesday. “On this day each year, I and many others will think of how a peaceful event that has been a tradition in Waukesha for over 50 years, and brought smiles and laughter to everyone, turned into tragedy.”
The sentencing hearing was briefly paused Tuesday morning after an unknown person threatened a mass shooting at the Waukesha County Courthouse, authorities said. The threat is under investigation and security at the courthouse was increased, the Waukesha County Sheriff’s Office said.
Brooks was also briefly removed from the courtroom on Tuesday for what Dorow described as his continued “defiant behavior,” which had included shouting at and interrupting the judge and prosecutors.
Brooks initially pleaded not guilty by reason of mental disease but withdrew the plea in September. He dismissed his public defenders during the trial and went on to represent himself.
Prior to the start of the trial, Brooks’ mother had written to the judge in September asking that he not be allowed to represent himself in court because “he is not stable mentally enough,” Milwaukee ABC affiliate WISN reported at the time.
(NEW YORK) — Twitter employees have till Thursday evening to commit to being “extremely hardcore” or accept three months of severance upon their exiting the company, Twitter’s new owner Elon Musk wrote in a company-wide email. The internal email sent out this morning was obtained by ABC News and first reported by Platformer.
With the subject line “A Fork in the Road,” Musk wrote: “Going forward, to build a breakthrough Twitter 2.0 and succeed in an increasingly competitive world, we will need to be extremely hardcore.”
“This will mean working long hours at high intensity,” he added. “Only exceptional performance will constitute a passing grade.”
For those who wish to be part of the “new Twitter,” Musk directs employees to “click yes” on a forms link embodied in the email.
“Anyone who has not done so by 5pm ET tomorrow (Thursday) will receive three months of severance,” Musk wrote. “Whatever decision you make, thank you for your efforts to make Twitter successful.”
Twitter will from now on be more “engineering-driven,” he wrote — with less focus on design and product management.
“Design and product management will still be very important and report to me, but those writing great code will constitute the majority of our team and have the greatest sway,” Musk wrote. “At its heart, Twitter is a software and servers company, so I think this makes sense.”
Twitter did not respond to a request for comment from ABC News.
On Tuesday, Twitter fired “dozens” of employees over comments they made on an internal Slack channel criticizing new owner Elon Musk, two former employees had told ABC News.
Controversy has surrounded Musk since he purchased the social media site at the end of October for roughly $44 billion.
In the days since he acquired Twitter, Musk fired top executives, laid off half of the company’s staff, formed a content moderation council that will review account reinstatements and revamped the platform’s subscription service, Twitter Blue.
ABC News’ Max Zahn and Teddy Grant contributed to this story.
(NEW YORK) — Western New York is bracing for a “significant” lake-effect snowstorm that could dump up to 4 feet of snow in the Buffalo region over the coming days.
A lake-effect snow warning is in effect starting 7 p.m. Wednesday through 1 a.m. Saturday for southern Erie County.
The long-duration event is also expected in the east and southeast Great Lakes region, according to the National Weather Service in Buffalo.
Up to 4 feet of snow is possible for the region by Saturday morning. Winds gusting as high as 35 mph are also forecast.
“Travel could be very difficult to impossible,” the National Weather Service in Buffalo warned. “The hazardous conditions will impact the commutes from Thursday morning through Friday evening.”
Snowfall rates of 1 to 2 inches per hour are forecast for the Thursday morning commute.
Lake-effect snow is common in the late fall and early winter along the downwind shores of the Great Lakes, which is caused by cold air flowing over the warmer waters of the Great Lakes.
In November 2014, more than 5 feet of lake-effect snow fell just east of Buffalo, in what was one of the most significant winter events in the city’s history, according to the National Weather Service.
Beyond Buffalo, snow is also expected over upper New England on Wednesday, with winter weather advisories issued for the area.
Upstate New York, northern Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine are expected to see more than 3 inches of fresh snow, with more than 6 inches expected in northern Maine. More than a foot is possible along the Canadian border in Maine.
ABC News’ Kenton Gewecke contributed to this report.
Jane Seymour spoofed her own charity jewelry line called The Open Heart Collection in a new collab with Aviation American Gin, Ryan Reynolds‘ signature spirit brand.
In the sumptuous shot spot complete with gentle piano music, Seymour says, “The holidays are a time for family. Which is also why the holidays are a time for gin.”
She explains, straight-faced, that this “inspired” her “Open Bottle Collection,” which are basically necklaces for gin bottles.
“Each piece is designed to elegantly fit around the neck of a bottle of Aviation,” the actress says. “It’s inspired by the bottle of gin I keep in my purse throughout the holiday season,” showing how she’s stashed a full-sized bottle.
“So if you want to keep your family happy this holiday season, bring them something special from my Open Bottle collection,” Seymour says, before adding, “But also bring the gin. I can’t stress that part enough.”
Reynolds doesn’t appear in the ad, but he posted it to his Instagram, adding, “Dr. Gin, Medicine Woman.”
(WASHINGTON) — Sen. Mitch McConnell on Wednesday was comfortably reelected as the GOP leader in the upper chamber despite a challenge — his first in 15 years — and despite intraparty finger-pointing over the GOP’s disappointing performance in the midterms last week.
McConnell had faced opposition from Florida Sen. Rick Scott, who mounted a historic challenge for the post atop the Republican conference.
The leadership vote, done by secret ballot behind closed doors in the ornate Old Senate Chamber, was 37-10, with one member voting present, per Sen Kevin Cramer, R-N.D.
The conference met for three and a half hours.
McConnell, the stolid Kentuckian currently on track to break a Senate record for longest serving leader in history in 2023, had not previously faced any such defiance. The Scott move, recently pushed by former President Donald Trump, surprised many.
Scott, a McConnell critic of late — who clashed with the leader over Republicans not putting forward a plan ahead of the midterms for how they would govern if they gained the majority — exhorted his conference both in a speech behind closed doors on Tuesday afternoon and in a letter to them to make a change from “the status quo.”
Scott, in charge of the GOP campaign arm this cycle in which the party performed far below expectations, explained why he was the better choice over McConnell.
“Like each of you, I am deeply disappointed by the results of the recent election. Despite what the armchair quarterbacks on TV will tell you, there is no one person responsible for our party’s performance across the country,” Scott wrote.
He added, “Unfortunately, we have continued to elect leadership who refuses to do that and elicits attacks on anyone that does. That is clearly not working and it’s time for bold change. The voters are demanding it.”
McConnell minced no words in talking to reporters after the meeting on Tuesday, saying it was a matter of when — not if — he would be elected leader.
“I think the outcome is pretty clear, I want to repeat again, I have the votes and I will be elected,” McConnell said during a news conference. “The issue is whether we do it sooner or later.”
Asked to respond to Scott’s challenge, McConnell said: “I don’t own this job. Anybody in the conference is certainly entitled to challenge me. I welcome the contest.”
Republicans sound off on McConnell, Scott
The GOP conference met for more than three hours Tuesday for what one senator called “a spirited discussion” and another said was “kind of a rhetorical slugfest.”
“It was a really, really, good discussion. People have a desire to be a team and win, but we realize that we’re 50 individuals. The new people (senators) were probably, like, ‘Woah! What’s going on?’ But it was a healthy discussion,” said Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., a McConnell supporter in line to be elected conference secretary by her colleagues on Wednesday.
About 15 to 20 senators stood to speak at the marathon conference meeting. Sen. Mike Braun, R-Ind., who spoke second, announced that he would be supporting Scott.
“When you measure how we’ve done in recent elections, especially the presidential ones, swing state Senate races, we got to do better,” Braun, who joined the Senate with Scott in 2018, said. “It’s very clear to me, I ran a business for 37 years, that if you don’t have a master plan, a mission statement, which I don’t think we have as a Republican Party, that it’s not going to work. And I think independents elect the swing state senators and the president and that was on view here in these [midterm] elections.”
“I think that when you keep having the same results, and presidential elections, we’ve won one popular vote since, what, 2004? It ought to cause you to have some deep thought about what you need to do differently,” continued Braun.
Republican senators said McConnell appeared surprised by the Scott move but offered a retort eventually, saying that being leader is not an easy thing.
“He counter-punched a time or two … in just the difficulty of the job, which is true. It’s not like any side has a mandate,” Braun told reporters.
According to Sen. Josh Hawley, who said he planned to support Scott, McConnell also took jabs at Scott’s performance in his current role.
“Sen. Scott disagrees with the approach that Mitch has taken in recent years, and he made that clear, and Senator McConnell criticized Senator Scott’s management at the NRSC and I imagine we’ll hear more about that tomorrow,” Hawley said.
As head of the National Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee, Scott controls the purse string of the GOP’s campaign arm. Under his leadership, the NRSC rounded the home stretch of campaign season with relatively little cash on hand, opening Scott to severe criticism, including from McConnell whose Super PAC had to pick up the slack.
“If you’re gonna assess blame for election losses, I don’t know how you trade in the leader for the gentleman at the NRSC,” Sen. Cramer told the Huffington Post.
Multiple GOP senators pointed to the sheer fundraising prowess of McConnell and his aligned super PAC, the Senate Leadership Fund, this cycle, as a top reason to keep him at the helm.
“I’m certainly supporting the current leadership team. Mitch raised an extraordinarily large amount of money, used it to help elect Republicans,” said Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah.
McConnell’s super PAC, according to AdImpact, raised “a total of $205M pooled across nine Senate races.”
Sen. Joni Ernst, currently a member of leadership and McConnell supporter, said she had no problem with the Scott challenge, but she said the Florida Republican failed to make a substantive case for why he should be chosen.
“I do think that elections are okay, and I think if people want to make challenges or throw their name in, I think that’s fine,” said Ernst, R-Iowa. “But what they have to do is present a real plan on what they want to see for the future of our conference, and I didn’t necessarily hear that coming from Rick Scott. He had a lot of things that he wanted to air out his grievances about, but we haven’t heard a conclusive plan yet.”
But Scott actually did offer a plan for the party in advance of the midterms. In February, he put forward his “12 Point Plan to Rescue America.” It made him no friends on either side of the aisle.
Congressional Democrats and the White House alike lambasted the Scott proposal, quickly turning it into a talking point. McConnell scorched Scott for suggesting that Republicans might raise income taxes.
“Let me tell you what would not be a part of our agenda,” McConnell said in March, shortly after Scott announced his plan. “We will not have as part of our agenda a bill that raises taxes on half the American people and sunsets Social Security and Medicare within five years.”
The public disagreement was the earliest sign that the relationship between McConnell and Scott was beginning to fracture. Trump, who has made his disdain for McConnell public, even nudged Scott to challenge McConnell for his seat, adding salt to the wound.
But while several Trump-aligned senators are expected to support Scott’s bid during the closed-door vote, it’s clear most Senate Republicans are prepared to keep McConnell a top the party.
Asked on Tuesday whether he thought Scott had any chance, Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., was blunt: “Not at all. Not at all.”
(NEW YORK) — Estée Lauder is acquiring Tom Ford for $2.8 billion, the venerable beauty brand announced Tuesday.
Through the new deal, the beauty conglomerate plans to add the designer label’s fragrances, cosmetics, skin care and apparel to its large portfolio of brands.
While the acquisition is subject to certain conditions, including regulatory approvals, it is expected to close during the first half of next year.
Estée Lauder said it has made arrangements to pay for the transaction through cash, debt and $300 million in deferred payments to the sellers by July 2025.
Acquiring Tom Ford’s line of fragrances was one of the main drivers of the acquisition, ABC News’s Rebecca Jarvis reported on Good Morning America.
Perfumes were a growth category during the pandemic, while Estée Lauder was hit hard by China’s COVID-19 restrictions — with once booming sales in Asia falling — and its shares down about 40% this year.
Estée Lauder hopes Ford’s flourishing business, whose net sales grew nearly 25% in its most recent fiscal year, according to the company, will fuel even more growth.
“We are incredibly proud of the success Tom Ford Beauty has achieved in luxury fragrance and makeup and its dedication to creating desirable, high-quality products for discerning consumers around the world,” Fabrizio Freda, president and chief executive officer for The Estée Lauder Companies, said in a statement. “As an owned brand, this strategic acquisition will unlock new opportunities and fortify our growth plans for Tom Ford Beauty. It will also further help to propel our momentum in the promising category of luxury beauty for the long-term while reaffirming our commitment to being the leading pure player in global prestige beauty.”
Tom Ford Beauty was initially launched as a partnership with Estée Lauder in 2006 with fragrance, makeup and skin care, and through the years, has grown to be a highly sought-after brand.
“I could not be happier with this acquisition as The Estée Lauder Companies is the ideal home for the brand. They have been an extraordinary partner from the first day of my creation of the company and I am thrilled to see them become the luxury stewards in this next chapter of the Tom Ford brand,” Ford said in a statement.
While Ford himself has not confirmed his future plans, he will continue to stay with the brand through the end of 2023.
After dropping hints in Morse code over the past few weeks, SZA has officially revealed her new album is titled S.O.S.
SZA tells Billboard the follow-up to 2017’s Ctrl is set for a December release, but she’s “currently stressed” about meeting the deadline.
On her 33rd birthday last week, SZA teased a new song, “PSA.” The video teaser ends with the Morse code for SOS. The code also appears in her Instagram bio and in the music video for “Shirt,” leading fans to guess it would be the title of her next album.
The Country Music Association’s holiday tradition, CMA Country Christmas, is back for 2022. Carly Pearce will return as the host of the show.
This year’s performers include Dan + Shay, Maren Morris, Old Dominion, Scotty McCreery, The War and Treaty, Steven Curtis Chapman and Molly Tuttle. Carly will perform in addition to her hosting duties.
“SO excited & honored to be your host again this year for CMA Country Christmas!” Carly wrote on social media when the news broke on Wednesday.
As always, the show will deliver cozy family favorites from a host of country stars. Balsam Hill is once again providing beautiful, realistic, artificial Christmas trees for the special, plus festive holiday decor.
CMA Country Christmas airs Thursday, December 8 on ABC. The show will be available to watch the next day on Hulu and Disney+.
Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel celebrated their 10th wedding anniversary with a vow renewal, which the actress reveals the two almost didn’t go through with.
Biel guested on Today and described her “intimate” vow renewal with the “Mirrors” singer. “It was very intimate. It was very small, a couple of our friends, and we literally barely put this thing together,” she revealed.
As for what nearly derailed the ceremony, Biel said, “We almost canceled it. We thought, ‘Oh, this is silly, are we going to feel goofy doing this?'”
In the end, the actress is glad that is how she and Justin celebrated their marriage milestone. “It was so moving,” she recalled. “I felt like, ‘Wow… We’re going to keep doing this. Look at us!'” Biel noted that while a vow renewal sounds serious, “It was not [a big deal].”
Biel also described what her marriage is like to the hitmaker; she said it is a “combination of incredibly safe and… Just deep understanding of another person.” The actress added it also provides “the safety to adventure again and sort of be curious about the world again as a couple and as individuals.”
“You have to keep working hard to make it fresh,” she concluded. “Justin always says… ‘We cannot stop dating. We have to keep dating.’ That’s always what he says. And he’s right.”
Justin and Jessica wed in 2012 after sparking romance rumors in 2007. They share two sons, Silas and Phineas, who are respectively 7 and 2 years old.
On Wednesday, Apple TV+ released the full trailer to Emancipation, the Antoine Fuqua-directed slave drama starring Will Smith.
The Oscar-winning King Richard actor plays Peter, an enslaved man who learns Lincoln has freed them, only to remain in chains in the Deep South. Ben Foster‘s slaver Fassel tells his captives, “You walk the earth because I let you. I’m your god now.”
Peter launches a plan to escape and undertakes a perilous journey through the deadly swamps, bound for Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and the Union Army’s front lines — with his captors on his heels.
Eventually, he takes up arms and returns to rescue the family he left behind.
Peter’s story was inspired by the 1863 photos of “Whipped Peter,” which first appeared in Harper’s Weekly after being taken during a Union Army medical examination. The graphic image of the man’s heavily scarred back contributed to the growing public opposition to slavery. The historic moment when the photo was snapped is recreated in the film and shown in the trailer.
Smith’s character says, “They whip me. They break the bones in my body more times than I can count,” before adding defiantly, “But they never, never break me.”
Emancipation debuts in U.S. theaters on Dec. 2 and hits Apple TV+ a week later on Dec. 9.
