Kentucky man charged with attempting to kill mayoral candidate

The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on Thursday the indictment of a Kentucky man who allegedly shot at a Louisville mayoral candidate in February.

A federal court in Louisville indicted Quintez Brown for using and discharging a firearm for a crime of violence by shooting at and attempting to kill a candidate for elective office, according to a DOJ press release.

Brown, 21, faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison and a maximum of a life sentence if convicted.

In late March, Brown was also indicted by a state grand jury in Jefferson County, the Courier Journal reported.

Brown, a local activist and a Louisville city council candidate, on Feb. 14 allegedly shot at Democrat mayoral candidate Craig Greenberg in his campaign office. One bullet grazed Greenberg’s shirt, but the candidate was otherwise uninjured, according to the Courier Journal.

Brown was detained after the incident and charged on five counts, but was out on a $100,000 bail two days later and ordered to home confinement, the Journal reported.

Brown’s release prompted an outcry from Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who said on the Senate floor in February that “less than forty-eight hours after this activist tried to literally murder a politician, the radical left bailed their comrade out of jail.”

Greenberg also criticized Brown’s release, issuing a statement saying the criminal justice system was “clearly broken.”

On Wednesday, the mayoral candidate released a campaign video on Twitter, saying his brush with gun violence was going to help him fight crime.

In a statement about the video, Greenberg said “this story is not one our campaign ever wanted to tell” but it had “strengthened my resolve” to end violent crime in Louisville.

“My wife Rachel and I thought it was important to share our experience with the community,” he wrote. “Louisville has a violent crime crisis that is impacting too many families all over our city.”

The Hill has reached out to Rob Eggert, Brown’s attorney.

Eggert referenced the case of Breonna Taylor, a Black woman who was shot and killed by police in Louisville during a no-knock warrant raid in 2020, in a statement to the Courier-Journal.

“When Breonna Taylor, a Black woman, was killed, the United States Attorney’s Office ran from the case,” the statement said, per the outlet. “Here, when a Black man suffering from mental illness is accused of committing a crime against a white mayoral candidate, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, at the prompting of Sen. Mitch McConnell, jumps in with both feet.”