A former Black Lives Matter activist and candidate for Louisville’s metro council in Kentucky has been charged with attempted murder after allegedly opening fire at a mayoral candidate, police said on Tuesday.
Besides one count of attempted murder, 21-year-old Quintez Brown also faces four counts of wanton endangerment, a spokesperson for the Louisville Metro Police Department said.
The suspect, who was raised in west Louisville, pleaded not guilty at an arraignment on Tuesday and his bond was set at $100,000. A judge ordered him not to have contact with the alleged victim, Craig Greenberg, a Democrat running for Louisville mayor, or his campaign staff.
“I’m very fortunate to have a great team of brave people who responded in that way,” he added. “It all happened so quick—but it’s a very surreal experience.”
Investigators said Brown appears to have acted alone and the motive remains under investigation. He was arrested a short time after the shooting less than a half-mile from the scene. He was carrying a loaded 9mm magazine in his pants pocket and had a drawstring bag with a handgun and additional handgun magazines, according to police.
Brown, a social justice activist, used to write columns in The Courier-Journal on matters of race. He had also previously called in his columns to “defund the police,” calling law enforcement officers “the original slave catchers.”
Brown often criticized the number of shootings and recently posted pictures on social media of several young African-Americans killed in Louisville.
“This is our reality. All of these kids are gone,” he said in the post.
“Gun violence reveals the interconnected nature of our reality,” he added “What affects one directly, affects all indirectly. Especially in our segregated conditions.”
