Clint Watts called it an accident despite the fact that witnesses said the driver stopped, then sped through the crowd, sending people flying in all directors in an act of complete mayhem.
After Darrell Brooks allegedly drove his car into a Christmas parade in Waukesha on Sunday night, killing 6 people, including an 8-year-old child, MSNBC called this an "accident." CBS called it a "parade crash."
In a panel discussion on MSNBC, one contributor said "One thing that you worry about, actually two things, is one is the idea of contagion. Whether it has anything to do with this accident last night and the killing of these people..."
That commentator, Clint Watts, called it an accident despite the fact that witnesses said the driver stopped, then sped through the crowd, sending people flying in all directors in an act of complete mayhem.
MSNBC wasn't the only outlet to say that the massacre, for which Brooks has been charged in Waukesha court with six intentional homicides, was an accident. CBS made a similar claim, stating that it was a "parade crash" that injured 18 children.
The US Council of Catholic Bishops also called it an accident when they issued a tweet offering their condolences to the victims.
NBC also went with the term "accident" when they were reporting on the Ring camera footage reportedly of Brooks only moments after he drove his car into the crowd.
Newsweek called it a "crash."
The New York Times' Maggie Haberman also tweeted out that this was a "crash," despite the homicide charges brought by the state.
CNN also attempted to downplay the massacre, issuing reports almost immediately after the massacre that it was not domestic terrorism.
On Tuesday, Brooks made his first court appearance. In asking for a large bail sum, $5 million, the state said that "there are not words to describe the risk that this defendant presents to our community, not only flight risk, but the dangerous that he presents his history of violence and the allegations in this complaint..."
Brooks' defense stated that the defendant was poor, and could not fund a large bail sum. The Court Commissioner detailed the conditions under which bail would be determined, which included a prohibition of Brooks' having use of a vehicle.
The Court Commissioner tracked through Brooks' prior violent convictions, missed court dates, resisting arrest, and other items that indicate that "this gentleman doesn't follow rules very well."
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