Louisville mayoral candidate outraged by suspect's release

A Louisville mayoral candidate has said that he and his team are “traumatized” by the news that the man charged with drawing a gun and firing at him earlier this week had been placed on home incarceration

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A Louisville mayoral candidate said Thursday that he was “traumatized” by the news that the man charged with drawing a gun and firing at him earlier this week had been placed on home incarceration.

Quintez Brown, 21, was arrested and charged with attempted murder shortly after Monday’s shooting in Louisville. The Democratic candidate, Craig Greenberg, was not hit by the gunfire but said a bullet grazed his sweater.

“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," Greenberg said in a statement. “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.”

A group called the Louisville Community Bail Fund paid the $100,000 cash bond on Wednesday afternoon, according to media reports. Under the terms of home incarceration, Brown has been fitted with a GPS ankle monitor and is confined to his home.

Brown, a social justice activist running as an independent for Louisville’s metro council, has been charged with attempted murder and four counts of wanton endangerment.

A judge has ordered Brown to have no contact with Greenberg or his campaign staff and said Brown cannot possess firearms. Brown’s lawyer said the man has “serious mental issues” and said he would undergo a psychiatric evaluation.

Jefferson County Attorney Mike O’Connell, the initial prosecutor on the case, called Brown’s release “frustrating.” O’Connell said in a prepared statement that state law calls for bond to be set in cases like Brown’s. He said prosecutors argued for and received a higher bond for Brown, an increase from $75,000 to $100,000 cash, and also requested home incarceration if Brown was released.

“However, the criteria of release should not be the ability to access a certain amount of money,” O’Connell said. “It should be the threat to the community and whether there is a history of non-appearance in court.”

O’Connell said his office has “kept the victim involved throughout the process.”

Meanwhile, U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell expressed outrage at Brown's release in remarks on the Senate floor. He characterized the shooting as “what appears to be an assassination attempt against a Jewish mayoral candidate."

“Less than 48 hours after this activist tried to literally murder a politician, the radical left bailed their comrade out of jail," he said. “It is just jaw-dropping. The innocent people of Louisville deserve better."

Brown 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.”

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Hudspeth Blackburn is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.