The U.S. Department of Justice reports they arrested an Arizona white man who planned a mass shooting at an Atlanta rap concert to incite a race war.
According to the FBI’s months-long investigation, Mark Adams Prieto wanted to execute his plan before the 2024 presidential elections. He was selling guns to undercover agents and engaging in “alarming” conversations during various gun shows in the Phoenix area, WSB-TV reports from the Department of Justice website.
Agent testimony during the grand jury hearing said Prieto was “advocating for a mass shooting, and specifically targeting ‘Blacks, Jews or Muslims.’” The unidentified source reportedly explained to FBI agents that “Prieto believes that martial law will be implemented shortly after the 2024 election and that a mass shooting should occur prior to the implementation of martial law.” In 2023, Prieto asked the FBI source if he or she was “ready to kill a bunch of people.”
Prieto was indicted Tuesday by a federal grand jury following a months-long investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and his arrest in mid-May. They began the investigation in October 2023.
During the grand jury hearing, FBI agents and federal prosecutors said Prieto explained why Atlanta was a target.
“Why, why is Georgia such a [expletive]-up state now? When I was a kid, that was one of the most conservative states in the country,” he reportedly said, according to Justice.gov. “Why is it not now? Because as the crime got worse in LA, St. Louis, and all these other cities, all the [expletives] 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.”
The rap concert was ideal for Prieto because “there would be a high concentration of African Americans” at the event.
Prieto has been indicted on charges of firearms trafficking, transfer of a firearm for use in a hate crime, and possession of an unregistered firearm. Each charge carries a maximum sentence of 10-15 years in prison, the DOJ reports.
