An Arizona man was indicted on charges related to planning a mass shooting to "incite a race war." The firearms dealer, Mark Adams Prieto, 58, reportedly sold two rifles to an undercover FBI agent. Fox 5 reported that Prieto was a vendor at gun shows in his hometown of Prescott, Arizona.
He spoke to two individuals working with the FBI about his plans to "commit a mass shooting of African Americans and other minorities to incite a race war prior to the 2024 United States Presidential Election," according to a news release from the US Attorney's Office, District of Arizona.
On June 11, 2024, Prieto was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of firearms trafficking, transfer of a firearm for use in a hate crime, and possession of an unregistered firearm, the news release noted.
Prieto allegedly spoke to the undercover FBI agent and the source working with the FBI about his plans without knowing that they worked for the government. Instead, he thought they were individuals who had the same beliefs that he does.
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Prieto reportedly wanted to carry out the attack at a rap concert because he believed there would be a lot of African Americans there, reported Fox 5. He also wanted to make it clear that the attack was "racially motivated," according to the affidavit.
The affidavit noted that he wanted to leave Confederate flags at the site of the attack and shout racist statements like "Black lives don't matter, white lives matter."
The FBI first learned of Prieto's plans when a source who had spoken to Prieto several times at gun shows reported that he had started saying "suspicious" and "alarming" things in October 2023.
Prieto allegedly made comments about carrying out a mass shooting against "Blacks, Jews, or Muslims."
The source also alleges that Prieto traded firearms from his own collection at gun shows. In attempt to avoid documenting the sales with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives, he allegedly would only trade or make cash deals, as per the affidavit.
Prieto was arrested in New Mexico on May 14. While driving, he was stopped by law enforcement and found to be in possession of seven firearms. He reportedly admitted to selling an AR-15 to the undercover FBI agent and also admitted to talking about his plans to carry out a mass shooting.
The news release did not specify what concert he planned to target, but the dates mentioned were the same dates that Bad Bunny was scheduled to perform at Atlanta's State Farm Arena.
The affidavit also stated that Prieto wanted to carry out the attack before the upcoming presidential election because he believes "martial law will be implemented shortly after the 2024 election."
