(Headline USA) A self-proclaimed radical black nationalist who supported Black Lives Matter and was charged with shooting at a Louisville mayoral candidate, has been taken into federal custody, jail records show.
Quintez Brown, 22, is listed as a federal prisoner at the Grayson County Detention Center in Leitchfield, Kentucky. Brown’s attorney, Rob Eggert, told the Louisville Courier Journal on Thursday that a federal grand jury had indicted his client. He said Brown was arrested Wednesday “by multiple federal agents,” the newspaper reported.
Eggert did not offer specifics about what Brown was charged with, and federal authorities did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Brown was arrested by Louisville police shortly after the Feb. 14 shooting. The mayoral candidate, Craig Greenberg, said he was not hit by the gunfire, although a bullet grazed his sweater.
Greenberg, a Democrat, said he was at his campaign headquarters with four colleagues when a man appeared in the doorway and began firing multiple rounds. One staffer managed to shut the door, which they barricaded using tables and desks, and the shooter fled.
A police report said Brown was carrying a loaded 9 mm magazine in his pants pocket and had a drawstring bag with a handgun and additional magazines when he was arrested.
Brown was placed on home incarceration and fitted with a GPS ankle monitor after a BLM Louisville-affiliated group called the Louisville Community Bail Fund paid the $100,000 cash bond on Feb 16. A judge also ordered Brown to have no contact with Greenberg or his campaign staff and barred him from possessing firearms.
Brown’s house arrest prompted outrage from Greenberg, who said it was “impossible to believe” Brown could be released.
Last week, a Kentucky grand jury in Louisville indicted Brown on one count of attempted murder and four counts of first-degree wanton endangerment, all state charges. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Brown, a social justice activist who was running as an independent for Louisville’s metro council, disappeared for about two weeks last summer. After he was found safe, his parents issued a statement asking for patience and privacy while they attended to his “physical, mental and spiritual needs.”
In March, a judge cleared Brown to receive a mental health evaluation to determine if he should be admitted to a psychiatric hospital for treatment.
Louisville police said in February that Brown appears to have acted alone. The motive also remains under investigation and has not been discussed publicly by authorities.
Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press
