An Arizona man planned a mass shooting targeting African Americans at a rap concert to incite a race war ahead of the election.
According to NBC News, on Tuesday (June 13), a federal grand jury indicted Mark Adams Prieto after months of investigation. He was arrested last month on charges of firearm trafficking, transferring a firearm for use in a hate crime and possessing an unregistered firearm.
Last October, FBI Phoenix received a report about Prieto’s race war plans. A source told them they met Prieto at gun shows over the years when he began “advocating for mass shootings targeting blacks, Jews or Muslims,” according to an affidavit.
“Prieto believes martial law will be imposed shortly after the 2024 elections and mass shootings should occur,” the confidential source said. He also contacted sources and asked if they were “prepared to kill a bunch of people.”
Bad Bunny concert could be target of mass shooting
The FBI began surveilling Prieto in January, and he asked sources and an undercover agent to help him carry out his plan. He planned to carry out a mass shooting targeting African Americans at a rap concert in Atlanta, possibly the Bad Bunny concert on May 14-15.
According to legal documents, Prieto said, “The reason I said Atlanta. Why, why is Georgia so bad now? When I was a kid, it was one of the most conservative states in the country. Why not now? Because with the Crime is getting worse in Los Angeles, St. Louis and all the other cities, all [N-words] move out those [places] and moved to Atlanta. That’s why it’s not that great anymore. They’ve been there for a few years.
Prieto chose a rap concert, where a large number of African Americans were expected, and intended to leave a Confederate flag after the attack. The flags carried the message: “We are going to fight back now and every white person across the country will be the enemy” and chanted “White people are killing here, what do we do” and “KKK all the way.”
Authorities arrested Prieto in May. He admitted discussing an attack with undercover agents and sources. However, he claimed he had no intention of continuing the attack.
