An Arizona man planned to target African Americans at a rap concert mass shooting to incite a race war ahead of the elections.
On Tuesday (June 13), a federal grand jury indicted Mark Adams Prieto following a months-long investigation, per NBC News. He was arrested last month on charges of firearms trafficking, transfer of a firearm for use in a hate crime, and possession of an unregistered firearm.
Last October, FBI Phoenix received a report of Prieto’s race war plans. According to an affidavit, a source told them they met Prieto at gun shows over the years when he began “advocating for a mass shooting,” targeting Blacks, Jews or Muslims.
The confidential source stated, “Prieto believes that martial law will be implemented shortly after the 2024 election and that a mass shooting should occur,” beforehand. He also approached the source, asking if they were “ready to kill a bunch of people.”
Bad Bunny Concerts A Possible Target For Mass Shooting
The FBI began surveillance on Prieto in January this year, and he asked the source and an undercover agent to help him carry out his plan. He intended to target African Americans in a mass shooting at a rap concert in Atlanta, possibly Bad Bunny’s concerts on May 14 and 15.
According to legal filings, Prieto said: “The reason I say Atlanta. Why, why is Georgia such a f——up state now? When I was a kid that was one of the most conservative states in the country. Why is it not now? Because as the crime got worse in L.A., St. Louis, and all these other cities, all the [N-words] moved out of those [places] and moved to Atlanta. That’s why it isn’t so great anymore. And they’ve been there for a couple, several years.”
Prieto chose a rap concert, predicting high numbers of African Americans, and intended to leave Confederate flags after the attack. The flags sent a message that “we’re going to fight back now, and every whitey will be the enemy across the whole country,” and to shout “whities out here killing, what’s we gonna do” and “KKK all the way.”
Authorities arrested Prieto in May. He admitted discussing an attack with the undercover agents and the source. However, he claimed he did not intend to go forward with the attack,” per the affidavit.