Arizona man wanted to shoot black people at Bad Bunny concert to start 'race war': feds

US News

By Alex Oliveira

An Arizona man allegedly plotted to shoot black people at a Bad Bunny concert in Atlanta in an effort to start a race war before the presidential election, federal prosecutors say.

Mark Adams Prieto, 58, was indicted Tuesday nearly a month after he was arrested for the alleged plot, in which he planned to murder as many black people as possible with semi-automatic rifles he purchased through cash transactions or exchanges to avoid detection from gun regulators.

He was exposed after a source he had recruited to participate in the massacre tipped off FBI agents, leading to a months-long investigation that ended after he attempted to recruit an agent went undercover to join the mass shooting, according to an affidavit obtained by NBC News. .

“Prieto believes martial law will be implemented shortly after the 2024 election and that a mass shooting is expected to occur before then,” the source at FBI Phoenix said, according to the affidavit, adding that he was “prepared to kill a group of people.

He reportedly decided to target Atlanta because he believed black people had gathered there and made it a hotbed of crime.

“The reason I say Atlanta. Why, why is Georgia in such disarray today? When I was growing up, it was one of the most conservative states in the country. Why not now ? ,” Prieto reportedly told the source.

“Because as crime got worse in Los Angeles and St. Louis and all these other cities, all the [racial slur] came out of those [places] and moved to Atlanta. That's why it's not so great anymore. And they’ve been there for a few years,” he said, according to the affidavit.

Prieto recruited the source during three gun shows at which they spoke at length and purchased and traded firearms for use in the shooting, ultimately involving the undercover FBI agent in the plot.

He reportedly decided to target a rap concert because he thought it would attract a concentrated gathering of black people, and advised his supposed conspirators to wear hoodies when infiltrating the crowd because, he said, the outfits would not would not attract attention in such a context.

“We're going to fight back now, and every white person will be the enemy in the whole country,” Prieto reportedly said, explaining how he wanted to leave Confederate flags at the scene and shout “'KKK all the way' and 'no mercy, show no mercy.

Prieto allegedly went so far as to plan to hide weapons near the concert before traveling across the country to carry out the shooting, and targeted concerts scheduled for mid-May, June or July, including the one where Bad Bunny was scheduled to take place. occur.

In March, Prieto still planned to carry out the shooting, but in April he told the undercover agent he wanted to delay it.

A month later, he was arrested on May 14 and admitted to investigators that he had talked about carrying out a mass shooting.

“However, he told officers he did not intend to continue the attack,” the affidavit states.

He was charged with possession of an unregistered firearm, firearm trafficking and transfer of a firearm for use in a hate crime.

If convicted, Prieto faces up to 40 years in prison.