Jewish Candidate Shooting Suspect To Remain In Federal Custody

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A man accused of shooting at a candidate for mayor of Louisville will remain in federal custody until his trial, a judge has ruled.

Quintez Brown should remain locked up because prosecutors showed “by clear and convincing evidence that the proposed conditions on release cannot reasonably assure the safety of the community,” U.S. District Court Judge Benjamin Beaton said in a ruling Tuesday, according to Louisville media outlets.

A federal magistrate judge had granted Brown’s request for release to home incarceration, but prosecutors appealed, describing him as “erratic, unpredictable, and likely to disappear,” and warning that he could attempt another shooting.

Brown, 21, was indicted by a federal grand jury on April 6 in the Feb. 14 shooting at the office of mayoral candidate Craig Greenberg. Brown is charged with “interfering with a federally protected right, and using and discharging a firearm in relation to a crime of violence by shooting at and attempting to kill a candidate for elective office.”

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. He was not hit by the gunfire but said a bullet grazed his sweater. One staffer managed to shut the door, which they barricaded with tables and desks, and the shooter fled.

Brown has pleaded not guilty in state and federal court. He faces ten years to life in prison if convicted of all federal charges, in addition to any sentence on state charges of attempted murder and wanton endangerment.

Brown’s attorneys acknowledged the serious nature of the allegations, but insisted that incarceration would have a detrimental impact on Brown’s mental health and wellbeing.