'I'm Not Crazy,' Says Nevada Gun-Threat Pol In Shirtless Interview, 'You're The One Who's Crazy'

Nevada Assemblyman Steven Brooks (a Democrat!) did not threaten to murderNevada Speaker Marilyn Kirkpatrick with a loaded gun that he was carrying, said Nevada Assemblyman Steven Brooks. Instead, Nevada Speaker Marilyn Kirkpatrick is trying to kill him! What else should we know about Brooks's interview with the Las Vegas Review-Journal? A) It was "disjointed." B) He was shirtless through most of it. And C) He does not seem to have avery good "attorney," since said attorney (reinstated to the bar after being suspended for "51 professional conduct rules violations") did not shut him up while he said INCREDIBLY SANE SOUNDING things like this!

• "If (Kirkpatrick) comes to kill me again, I have an armed guard," Brooks said at one point. "No one is going to touch me again, I'm safe."

• Brooks and [attorney Mitchell] Posin downplayed questions about the assemblyman's mental state.

• Posin questioned the intentions of friends and colleagues who have said they hoped Brooks would get help.

  "It depends what they mean by 'help,' " he said. "When you hear somebody say 'I hope he is getting some help,' it is suggestive that he is in the wrong, that he is acting crazy, that he needs psychiatric help."

• Brooks also accused Kirkpatrick of drug abuse and asked for help in obtaining hair and blood samples from her. Posin didn't dissuade him from the topic.

  "We believe that she has got some emotional problems, as well," Posin said.

• While Brooks made accusations against Kirkpatrick, he said any statements leading to his arrest were "a mistake," nothing more than an attempt to rally support for another lawmaker as speaker during pre-session caucus meetings.

  "If this is a threat, then take me to jail," he said. "I said, 'I challenge you to a debate, and I am counting votes ... Because that will be your first and last day as speaker-elect. I made a mistake. So I said 'peace,' and I tried to apologize."

• During the conversation, Brooks abruptly left the room, returning with a broken flat-screen television. The men blamed [LV Councilman Ricki] Barlow for the damage, then went into another room to speak quietly together. On returning, Posin said the television was broken "on accident" while Barlow was helping Brooks move.

• Asked why Barlow was agitated, Brooks jumped in and said, "Good question. My wife is on her way."

  Pressed further, Posin said it had to do with the role played by Barlow and Ada Brooks in events leading up to the arrest.

  In an arrest report, Ada Brooks is said to have told police that "her husband's mental health had been getting worse, and she was worried about him."

• Brooks and Posin then discussed an earlier incident in which Brooks said, "Gangsters jumped me," in North Las Vegas. Brooks said he reported it, but police were not helpful. Posin said there is a police report but that it was not immediately available.

• The interview concluded with Brooks proclaiming his innocence and asking a reporter to take photos to document his bruises.

  "I'll be tried in a court of law, and I'm innocent until proven guilty," Brooks said. "And I have Second Amendment rights, and all my civil rights have been violated."

Is Nevada Assemblyman Steven Brooks in the grip of a full-blown mental breakdown of the manic or bipolar variety? Or were they somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold?

[ LVRJ ]