BLM, gun-control activist arrested after assassination attempt on Louisville mayoral candidate

Louisville police have arrested a man in connection to a Monday morning shooting, in which the suspect was accused of attempting to murder a mayoral candidate. 21-year-old Quintez Brown was arrested by police, and is being held at the Louisville Metro Department of Corrections, according to the Washington Post.

Brown is a BLM activist and black nationalist who was praised by former President Barack Obama, MSNBC host Joy Ann Reid, and was a writer for the Courier Journal. In a Tuesday morning arraignment hearing, Brown’s bond was raised from $75,000 to $100,000 full cash, according to WLKY.

Brown has been charged with attempted murder and four counts of wanton endangerment. He has plead not guilty.

On Monday morning, Louisville Democratic mayoral candidate Craig Greenberg was holding a short meeting with four members of his campaign staff.

It was during that meeting when a man, later identified as Brown, stood in the doorway and started shooting his 9mm Glock handgun in the direction of Greenberg.

Greenberg's staffers were able to get the door shut, and the team used furniture to barricade themselves inside as the shooter fled the scene, according to local news.

In a news conference, Greenberg talked about the incident where luckily no one as injured "despite one bullet coming so close that it grazed my sweater and my shirt."

"All of us are blessed, and I’m blessed to be standing here today with you," he said.

According to the Courier Journal, police found man matching the suspect description less than half of a mile away from the shooting around 10 minutes later. He was found carrying a loaded 9mm magazine in his pants pocket, according to the arrest report.

He was also carrying a drawstring bag with a handgun, handgun case, and additional magazines, the Courier Journal reported.

The report read that surveillance video from the building where the shooting took place showed the suspect wearing clothing matching Brown’s, and carrying a matching bag.

Brown attended the University of Louisville as a political science major, according to a university article. He was a Louisville Youth Voices Against Violence Fellow at the Youth Violence Prevention Research Center, a former intern and editorial columnist for The Courier Journal, and was selected to participate in an Obama Foundation program in which he met the former president.

In 2019, Brown wrote an article saying that an open-carry gun law in Kentucky "shows your life doesn't matter to gun-loving Republicans." In 2022, he became the alleged gun-toting suspect in an attempted assassination attempt on a local politician.

Brown was involved in the racial justice protests of 2020, as well as the March for Our Lives protest in Washington DC, which took place in 2018 after the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting.

Speaking with Joy Reid’s AM Joy show during the march, Brown, issuing his remarks towards then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, he said "we are here we want, we want common sense gun reform. And if you're not going to give us that, then we're going to get everyone out here to vote and we're going to vote you out of office. So if you want to keep your job, then you know give us what we — not what we want but what we need, what humans need."

"We need a common sense government reform, get rid of assault rifles," said Brown at the time.

In December of last year, Brown announced plans to run to represent District 5 for Louisville’s Metro Council on Twitter. His campaign account states: "We have one scientific and correct solution, Pan-Africanism: the total liberation and unification of Africa under scientific socialism."

According to WLKY, Metro Council President David James called the shooting an "assassination attempt."

Brown’s attorney Rob Eggert said during Brown’s arraignment that he believes there are some "serious mental issues at play here," and will have Brown evaluated.

Brown’s next court date is scheduled for February 23.

According to the Washington Post, declining to comment on the shooter’s possible motivations, Greenberg said the Monday incident has given him "new resolve" to work to end gun violence.

"It all happened so quick, but it’s a very surreal experience," Greenberg added. "I know there are far too many other people in Louisville who have experienced that same feeling. I’m fortunate that was the first time that’s happened to me; I certainly hope it’s the last."