A federal grand jury has indicted an Arizona man for attempting to sell firearms to be used in a mass shooting to start a “race war,” the Justice Department announced Tuesday.
Mark Adams Prieto, 58, of Prescott, Arizona, is facing charges of Firearms Trafficking, Transfer of a Firearm for Use in a Hate Crime and Possession of an Unregistered Firearm, according to a DOJ press release.
Prieto allegedly participated in negotiations with two individuals working with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) between January 2024 and May 2024 to concoct a scheme to carry out a mass shooting targeting black Americans and other racial minorities, according to the Justice Department. The alleged objective was to spark a race war before the upcoming presidential election, the press release noted. (RELATED: ‘You’re Going To Start A Race War’: Dem In-Fighting Is Pushing Chicago To The Brink)
The FBI workers posed as individuals who shared Prieto’s white supremacist beliefs. the press release said. They indicated that they wished to murder nonwhite Americans to incite more race-based violence, according to the press release.
The alleged plan was to target a rap concert or other venue with a high concentration of black Americans, according to Fox 5 Atlanta. The defendant allegedly said he planned to leave confederate flags at the scene and to shout phrases like “KKK all the way.”
BREAKING: A Prescott man is accused of trafficking guns and planning a mass shooting he hoped would spark a race war. The DOJ says Mark Prieto, 58 was planning a mass slaughter at an Atlanta rap concert in order to kill Black people.
Full report tonight at 9 on @FOX10Phoenix pic.twitter.com/6OzbJ9vIEy— Trenton Hooker (@trentonhooker) June 12, 2024
Law enforcement began investigating Prieto when he allegedly told someone at a gun show that he wished to “incite a race war prior to the 2024 United States Presidential Election,” the news outlet reported.
The defendant allegedly sold two rifles to the individuals working with the FBI and was later arrested on May 14 while driving through New Mexico, the press release said. He had seven firearms in his possession at the time and authorities found more guns at his residence.
While being questioned, Prieto allegedly admitted to selling an AR-15 to an undercover FBI agent because it “would be a good gun to use in the attack.”
Prieto could be facing up to 15 years in prison for each of the firearms trafficking violations and 10 years for possessing an unregistered firearm, according to Fox 5 Atlanta.
