A man charged with trying to shoot a candidate for mayor of Louisville, Ky. is a Black Lives Matter Activist, a former intern and editorial columnist for Louisville’s Courier Journal and has been prolific on social media, where he tweeted and retweeted about social justice issues.
Quintez Brown, 21, also faces four counts of wanton endangerment, Louisville police said. The University of Louisville student pleaded not guilty at an arraignment Tuesday and his bond was set at $100,000.
On Feb. 14 Brown appeared at the campaign office of 46-year-old Craig Greenberg, a Jewish Democrat running for Louisville mayor, and fired several rounds. No one was injured, but Greenberg said his shirt was grazed and his ears are still ringing from the shots.
Brown was arrested a short time later, with a weapon and ammunition.
The Daily Wire reports that he met with a black nationalist group only a week previously and has promoted violent radicals like Kwame Ture and Assata Shakur on both Instagram and Twitter.
“Gun violence reveals the interconnected nature of our reality,” Brown recently posted on social media. His Twitter profile bio also reads: “We have one scientific and correct solution, Pan-Africanism: the total liberation and unification of Africa under scientific socialism.”
Police said Brown appears to have been acting on his own with an unclear motive. A candidate Louisville’s Metro Council, he has campaigned with candidates against projects that they say will intensify gentrification in Kentucky’s largest city. Greenberg, his apparent target, has touted his experience at the center of the city’s revitalization efforts and helped create legislation promoting the development of Louisville’s predominantly Black west side.
Greenberg said his resolve to run for mayor has not been affected.
