BLM activist Quintez Brown who was arrested for trying to kill a Jewish mayoral candidate showed 'allegiance to anti-Semitic causes including Lion of Judah Armed Forces' on his social media accounts
By Jack Newman, David Averre and Gina Martinez
Daily Mail
February 21, 2022
Quintez Brown, 21, was arrested and charged with attempted murder shortly after Monday's shooting in Louisville, Kentucky, in which Democratic candidate Craig Greenberg narrowly avoided the bullet.
But he was released from prison and placed under house arrest just two days after the shooting when a BLM chapter, the Louisville Community Bail Fund, posted his $100,000 bond.
In the months leading up to the shooting, Brown's social media posts showed an increasing interest in Black nationalist and pan-Africanist leaders, and last week he appeared to encourage his followers to join the Lion of Judah Armed Forces.
The group shares similar ideas to the Black Hebrew Israelite movement, which claims that Black Americans are the true descendants of the Biblical Hebrews and has been associated with several murders of Jews in the US.
Brown was one of 22 people chosen to meet the former President of the United States in 2019 as part of Obama's My Brother's Keeper Alliance, which is aimed at closing achievement gaps facing young boys and men of color.
He also made regular appearances on the BBC to discuss race matters in the US, and was running as an independent candidate for Louisville's metro council.
Brown's recent social media activities have sparked fears that the attempted shooting last week was a hate crime.
In the week prior to the shooting, Brown appeared to encourage his followers to support the Lion of Judah Armed Forces, a self-proclaimed militia group.
A local spokesman for the Lion of Judah Armed Forces told The Daily Beast he met with Brown the Thursday prior to the attack, but said the shooter was not officially a member of the group and condemned the assassination attempt.
Brown's Twitter bio read: 'We have one scientific and correct solution, Pan-Africanism: the total liberation and unification of Africa under scientific socialism.'
His social media accounts have since been deleted.
Brown's attorney Rob Eggert meanwhile has denied claims that his client attempted to carry out an anti-Semitic attack, alleging instead that Brown was struggling with mental health issues.
'This is not a hate crime. It is a mental health case,' Eggert said, before adding that his client would undergo a psychiatric evaluation.
On Wednesday, BLM Louisville, together with the BLM-run Louisville Community Bail Fund, posted Brown's $100,000 cash bond.
Brown was placed under house arrest and fitted a GPS ankle monitor after he hours after the bail was paid.
Social activists used their publicly donated funds to secure Brown's release from behind bars, claiming he would be safer at home and he is suffering PTSD after two years of social unrest and the Covid pandemic.
The Louisville fund's co-founder and local BLM organizer Chanelle Helm said they wanted to keep Brown safe while he awaits trial, and she knows him personally through their activism.
But Brown's release from jail has angered Republicans and Democrats alike, including Greenberg who said he was 'traumatized' by the attempt on his life.
Democrat Greenberg said: 'Our criminal justice system is clearly broken. It is nearly impossible to believe that someone can attempt murder on Monday and walk out of jail on Wednesday.
'If someone is struggling with a mental illness and is in custody, they should be evaluated and treated in custody. We must work together to fix this system.'
'This far-left Black Lives Matter activist and defund-the-police cheerleader walked into a Jewish Democrat's campaign headquarters and opened fire,' the Senate Minority Leader said in a statement.
'But guess what: He's already been let out of jail,' McConnell added.
'A left-wing bail fund partnered with BLM Louisville to bail him out. Less than 48 hours after this activist tried to literally murder a politician, the radical left bailed their comrade out of jail.'
Charles Booker, a Louisville Democrat running for the US Senate, also released a statement opposing Brown's release, insisting that 'anyone who has been arrested for attempted murder - and is feared to be a harm to themselves and others - should be in custody.'
'The sad reality of our cash bail system is that it puts a price tag on crime without sufficient considerations for safety. This often keeps innocent people behind bars because they do not have the funds,' Booker said.
'Meanwhile, a person charged with attempted murder can be released in 48 hours if they have access to enough money.'
Brown was named as a 'rising face' by Barack Obama's foundation in 2019, and was one of just 22 participants chosen for the former president's My Brother's Keeper program, which is aimed at closing achievement gaps.
He still appears as a changemaker on the Obama foundation's website. DailyMail.com has contacted the foundation for further comment.
The activist, who studied at the University of Louisville and was running as an independent candidate for the city's metro council, was employed as a columnist at his local paper, the Louisville Courier Journal, where he posted regular diatribes against the police and gun ownership.
One article written by the shooter in May 2021 - titled 'Louisville's huge police budget is the real boogeyman traumatizing Black people' - ironically took aim at Louisville PD for failing to reduce gun violence.
Brown was also repeatedly hired by the BBC - the UK's prestigious public broadcaster - as a spokesman on race matters in the US.
Greenberg said he was at his campaign headquarters with four colleagues when a man appeared in the doorway and began firing multiple rounds last Monday.
One staffer managed to shut the door, which they barricaded using tables and desks, and the suspect fled.
Police apprehended Brown a short time later, less than a half-mile from the scene.
A police report said he was carrying a loaded 9 mm magazine in his pants pocket and had a drawstring bag with a handgun and additional handgun magazines.
A judge has ordered Brown to have no contact with Greenberg or his campaign staff and said Brown cannot possess firearms.
And a GOP state lawmaker, Rep. Jason Nemes of Louisville, told the Courier Journal on Thursday that he will introduce a bill this week that would allow voters to decide on a constitutional amendment allowing defendants to be detained without bail if they pose a grave danger.
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