Situation Report: BLM activist arrested in attempted assassination of Democrat mayoral candidate

A BLM activist and former journalist is being held on charges of what has been called “an attempted assassination,” after reportedly firing several shots at Craig Greenberg, a Democratic candidate for mayor of Louisville, Kentucky, and several of his aides on February 14. One of the rounds reportedly just missed Greenberg, penetrating his clothing. A few hours later the alleged assailant Quintez Brown, 21, was arrested in possession of a Glock handgun, and multiple magazines loaded with ammunition.

Brown is well known in Louisville activist circles as a Black Lives Matter organizer and former columnist at the local newspaper, the Courier-Journal, where he wrote on topics of race and social justice. Brown was reportedly running for the District 5 City Council position.

Brown’s social media account, which was still accessible as of this writing, shows an interest in Black Power/Black Liberation ideology, featuring quotes from revolutionary figures including George Jackson, and Assata Shakur. Jackson was co-founder of the Black Guerilla Family, Marxist-Maoist Black prison gang. Shakur was a leading member of the Black Liberation Army, an off shoot of the Black Panthers that engaged in armed robberies and police assassinations in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Currently a fugitive from justice Shakur resides in Cuba, but has served as a major inspirational figure for multiple BLM leaders.

Other references from Brown’s social media include retweeting the All-African People’s Revolutionary Party (AAPRP), a Pan-African revolutionary socialist party founded by Ghanian leader Kwame Nkrumah.

As Nkrumah wrote in his 1968 major work Handbook for Revolutionary Warfare the purpose of the party is, “to co-ordinate policies and to direct action… A political party linking all liberated territories and struggling parties under a common ideology; and thus smoothing the way for continental unity… While at the same time greatly assisting the prosecution of the All-African People’s War.”

Brown seems to resonate with Pan-Africanism, writing on his twitter profile, “We have one scientific and correct solution, Pan-Africanism: the total liberation and unification of Africa under scientific socialism.”

On January 10, Brown wrote a post at Medium.com which he called a “revolutionary love letter” in which he laments the cooperation of “reactionary so-called black leaders” with the Democratic Party. He writes that “manipulated brethren” “…will tell us that communism and collectivism has never and will never work and refuse to even explore these “childish” (or inferior) ideas.”

While Brown’s most recent social media posts make no direct reference to any intentions towards violence, one February 8 post does stand out, in which Brown cites from Stokely Carmichael (aka Kwame Ture) and Charles Hamilton’s Black Power: The Politics of Liberation:

There will always be those black people who will vote for whites against blacks because they fear economic and physical reprisal, because of an embedded belief that politics and voting are indeed “white folks’ business.” These people are lost.

Two days later on February 10, Brown retweeted BLM activist Bree Newsome Bass who writes:

If racist white Republicans say, “crime is out of control in the Democrat-run cities [where Black ppl are]” & the response from Democrats & Black Leaders™️ is, “Yes. Crime’s out of control. Let’s ramp up policing & incarceration”… You realize they’re co-signing the racism right?

The Louisville Mayoral race had featured an emphasis on community safety and policing in recent days, and on January 20th Greenberg held a press conference to unveil his crime and safety plan.

Brown had previously made local and national news after his parents raised concerns that he had gone missing in late June of last year. Brown later returned home in early July, apparently unharmed. The earlier disappearance may raise questions about Brown’s mental health and set the stage for a defense on those grounds. Brown’s bond was set at $100,000 and he was scheduled for a mental health evaluation.

Even a cursory examination of Brown’s social media shows an individual who is invested in a definable political ideology, which he is obviously capable of understanding and competently articulates. Such a case shows why local and state law enforcement must be schooled in identifying a wide variety of political ideologies which motivate terrorist acts. The state of Kentucky has a state terrorism law which carries the possibility of a life sentence without the prospect of parole.