Quintez Brown, a Louisville, Kentucky, activist accused of trying to kill a mayoral candidate in a shooting, has been released on bail from county jail.
The Louisville Community Bail Fund, a group affiliated with the Louisville chapter of Black Lives Matter, paid the $100,000 bond Wednesday afternoon, WHAS11 reported. Brown, 21, pleaded not guilty to attempted murder and four counts of wanton endangerment. While awaiting trial, Brown will be subject to home incarceration as his lawyers say they are seeking a mental health evaluation.
“Quintez Brown’s bond and release have been decided independently by a judge. Mr. Brown will be monitored by the Department of Corrections, consistent with Home Incarceration Program rules and regulations and any conditions set forth in the court order, including use of a GPS monitoring device and home checks. Alerts will notify HIP personnel if the device is tampered with or goes outside the geofence,” Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer said in a statement.
Brown, a former intern and editorial columnist with the Courier-Journal, is accused of attempting to shoot Democratic mayoral candidate Craig Greenberg at his Butchertown office Monday night with a 9 mm Glock handgun before fleeing, according to a police report. Louisville Metro Police said no one was injured, though a bullet grazed Greenberg’s clothing. Police said they arrested Brown roughly 10 minutes after the shooting and about half a mile from the office.
Greenberg described the shooting during a press conference Monday.
“The gunman stood in the doorway as he fired the shots, and one of my teammates was standing to the side of the door and was able to get the door slammed, and then he and other teammates that were closer to the door just threw tables and desks to barricade us in,” Greenberg said. “I’m very fortunate to have a great team of brave people who responded in that way. We are all very blessed. … It all happened so quick, but it’s a very surreal experience.”
Brown’s attorney, Rob Eggert, is calling the incident a “mental health case,” according to the Courier-Journal. That view is shared by Chanelle Helm, the organizer of the Louisville BLM chapter and the co-founder of the Louisville bail organization. “In this case, we’re dealing with someone that has mental health issues,” Helm said.
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Helm described the justice system as being rife with abuse.
“They are calling for this individual, this young man who needs support and help, to be punished to the full extent,” Helm said, according to WHAS11. “It is a resounding message that people are down for the torture that has taken place in our jails and prisons.”
The $100,000 cashiers check has been officially given to the clerks office to pay for @BLMLouisville activist Quintez Brown’s release. @LouCommBailFund is paying. Brown is accused of shooting at Louisville mayoral candidate @RunWithCraig. pic.twitter.com/5BMdW2hpfm
— Rachel DrozeTV (@RachelDrozeTV) February 16, 2022
“We have someone who has ignored the West End and has created multiple opportunities for himself that has been hit by this gun violence, and we have somebody who has been fighting and creating opportunities for others and himself to end gun violence in his community,” Helm added.
While Greenberg has focused his campaign on tackling the violent crime crisis in the city and vowing to hire more police officers, Brown wrote columns focused on matters related to race and law enforcement. Brown also announced in recent months that he was running for a seat on the Louisville Metro Council.
Quintez Brown, 21, is running to represent District 5 for Louisville’s Metro Council.
“Frederick Douglass said that the youth should fight to be leaders today, because the men who run this country are sick.” – Kwame Ture pic.twitter.com/tUCjXXG2hS
— Quintez Brown – District 5 (@tez4liberation) December 15, 2021
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The Louisville Community Bail Fund previously came under fire over its vetting process after bailing out Andrew Clayton, a man charged in a double shooting, for $30,000 in 2020, according to WAVE3. Judge McKay Chauvin forfeited the group’s bail money after Clayton broke the terms of his release by posting photos of drugs and cash on social media, court records show.
“Posting somebody’s bond without knowing anything about them, without knowing them, and without knowing where they’re going to live or who they’re going to live with or having any insight into how they may conduct themselves while on bond is dangerous,” Chauvin said in a hearing at the time.
In the Brown case, Metro Council President David James is also raising concerns about what the local group did. “They are going to be responsible for what he may or may not do to anybody,” he said, according to the WHAS11 report.
