Arizona man charged after planning mass shooting at Atlanta concert

An Arizona man has been charged with federal weapons charges after being arrested in a sting operation involving a planned mass shooting linked to a hate crime at a concert in Atlanta.

Mark Adams Prieto, 58, was charged with trafficking in firearms, transferring a firearm for use in a hate crime and possessing an unregistered firearm for nearly a month following his arrest on May 14, when he was stopped in New Mexico while driving from home. from Arizona to Florida while in possession of seven firearms.

These weapons, the Justice Department claims, were part of a six-month operation, during which “Prieto had discussions with two individuals working with the Federal Bureau of Investigation to develop a plan to commit a mass shooting of African Americans and other minorities to incite a race war ahead of the 2024 U.S. presidential election,” the DOJ said in a press release.

Prieto – who was a vendor at a gun show in Arizona and whose previous remarks about race wars and mass shootings first brought him to the attention of the FBI in October 2023 – allegedly targeted a concert in Atlanta which was to take place on May 14. and May 15, 2024, at State Farm Arena for the mass shooting for which he was supplying weapons, a spokesperson for the FBI's Phoenix field office said.

Although the Justice Department did not specify which concert Prieto was targeting, among the notable shows on those two nights in Atlanta were two Bad Bunny concerts, scheduled for the city's State Farm Arena on May 14 and 15.

According to the indictment (via WSB-TV Atlanta), Prieto admitted to undercover agents: “The reason I say Atlanta.” Why, why is Georgia so [expletive]-active status now? When I was growing up, it was one of the most conservative states in the country. Why not now ? Because as crime got worse in Los Angeles and St. Louis and all these other cities, all the [expletives] I left those (places) and moved to Atlanta. That's why it's not so great anymore. And they've been there for a few years, several years. He added that “there would be a high concentration of African-Americans” at the concert in question.

Earlier this year, Prieto sold a pair of AK-style rifles to one of the undercover agents as part of the scheme. However, while Prieto was arrested on May 14 – the day of the concert – the indictment says plans for the mass shooting were then pushed back to June.

If convicted, Prieto faces between 10 and 15 years in prison on each of the weapons-related charges. No trial date has yet been set.