MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The mayor of Waukesha on Wednesday condemned a campaign ad from an independent Republican group that links Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin to the killings of six people at a 2021 Christmas parade in that Wisconsin city.
Waukesha Mayor Shawn Reilly called the ad a “pathetic political tool” that “hurts not only the families of people who were killed, injured or even witnessed it, but the entire community.”
Baldwin is facing Republican Eric Hovde in one of the most hotly contested Senate races in the country this year, a race that is crucial for Democrats to win and retain their majority in the Senate.
The ad, which aired across Wisconsin last week, was paid for by One Nation, a super PAC affiliated with Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. A spokesperson for One Nation did not respond to an email seeking comment about the ad and the mayor’s criticism.
“Unfortunately for the Waukesha community, our pain and suffering from the 2021 Waukesha Christmas Parade is once again being used by unscrupulous people to drum up votes,” Reilly said in a phone interview.
Reilly referenced a joint statement Baldwin and Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson released shortly after the 2021 parade killings, urging everyone not to use it for political gain.
“I hope Eric Hovde would also support what Senator Johnson said,” Reilly said. “No politician should allow the attack on the Waukesha Christmas Parade and its impact on our community to be used to gain votes by creating fear and loathing to intentionally create division.”
Hovde’s campaign spokesman, Ben Voelkel, did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
Baldwin’s campaign team also spoke out against the ad.
“Using the attack for political purposes is not only wrong, it is deeply hurtful to a community still healing from the tragedy of that day,” said her campaign spokesman Andrew Mamo.
Reilly, who was a Republican, distanced himself from the party after the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol. He said he is now an independent supporting Baldwin in the Senate race.
The ad shows footage from the Waukesha Christmas Parade in November 2021 after Darrell Brooks Jr. drove his SUV through the parade route, killing six people. Brooks was sentenced to six life terms in prison without the possibility of parole.
“It should never have happened,” the ad’s narrator says over the sound of sirens and video footage of people running along the parade route and people hovering over those hit by the SUV. The narrator adds that Brooks had been released on $1,000 bail just days earlier after trying to run over his girlfriend with the same car.
The ad then shows an image of Baldwin on the floor of the Senate, with the narrator saying that she voted against funding for pretrial detention of violent criminals. The ad cites a vote from August 7, 2022, which took place nearly a year after the parade killings.
The narrator says the vote made it “easier for criminals like Darrell Brooks to terrorize our communities.” The ad ends with juxtaposed images of Baldwin on the Senate floor and Brooks in an orange prison jumpsuit.
Baldwin had nothing to do with arranging Brooks’ bail before the Christmas parade.
The $1,000 bail was the amount requested by the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s office. District Attorney John Chisholm later admitted that the $1,000 bail request from an assistant district attorney in his office was far too low.
The judge granted Brooks’ request for bail, which he posted online days before he drove through the Christmas parade and killed six people.
Wisconsin voters in 2023 approved a constitutional amendment, supported by Republicans after the parade killings, that would make it easier for judges to set higher bail.
