An Arizona man has been charged for selling guns to be used in a mass shooting with which he intended to spark a race war, federal investigators said this week.
Mark Adams Prieto, 58, of Prescott, Arizona, was indicted by a grand jury Tuesday on charges that he sought to kill Black people and other minorities "to incite a race war prior to the 2024 United States Presidential Election."
Federal agents alleged that Prieto had repeatedly, at multiple gun shows in Arizona, planned an attack in Atlanta, discussing his plans with an FBI agent and a confidential source for the FBI. The discussions allegedly took place at gun shows in Tucson, the Prescott Valley in northern Arizona and Phoenix, between January and May 2024. The FBI source also noted that Prieto believed that martial law would be implemented after the 2024 election, and talked about carrying out a mass shooting targeting Muslims, Jewish people and Black people.
Particularly, Prieto allegedly targeted a concert — scheduled for two days over May 14 and May 15 in Atlanta — as his site for the shooting. "That concert in Atlanta was chosen because Prieto expected large numbers of African Americans and other minorities to attend," the indictment reads.
Though the concert is not specified in the indictment, Puerto Rican music superstar Benito "Bad Bunny" Martinez Ocasio had scheduled concerts at Atlanta’s State Farm Arena on May 14 and 15.
Over the course of multiple meetings across a span of months and gun shows across Arizona, Prieto discussed the benefits and problems with using various rifle platforms — including describing a certain AK-style platform as "traceable and too valuable" — selling weapons to the undercover agent and the source, considering changing targets to mosques and arranging meetings for the undercover group.
According to an affidavit signed by an FBI special agent, Prieto "wanted it clear that the attack was racially motivated," to "make it clear that the attack was racially motivated," to "put Confederate flags at the location of the attack" and to shout "KKK all the way" and "black lives don’t matter, white lives matter" during the attack.
He also said that he would travel east to scout locations for his attack, and admitted to having a "piston-driven AR that was not on record." Prieto also "emphasized that the attack must happen prior to the election and as soon as possible."
On May 14, Prieto was pulled over by law enforcement while driving through New Mexico. Officers found seven guns in his car, as well as ammunition for a handgun. Two days later, federal officers searched his home, finding an unregistered AK-style semiautomatic pistol — one that can be modified to a short-barrel rifle if registered with federal agencies — alongside other guns and ammo.
After his arrest, Prieto admitted to investigators that he discussed carrying out an attack on a concert in Atlanta "where young people and minorities would attend, and that the attack would start the revolution." However, he told agents that he "did not intend to go forward with the attack," according to the affidavit.
He was charged with four felony counts, including three counts of selling weapons with reasonable cause to believe they would be used in assault, murder and hate crimes, as well as one count of possessing an unregistered short-barrel rifle.
In a motion, federal prosecutors said they believe that Prieto "is a danger to anyone who does not look and think like he does[,] wants horrible things to happen to such people to bring about change in the United States and has made plans with others to commit acts of violence to instigate his desired changes."
Prieto’s defense attorney argued that Prieto’s admitted "lack of intent" in ultimately carrying out a crime — when combined with his cooperation with law enforcement regarding a search of his residence — helps to prove that he isn’t a danger to the community.