Arizona man arrested for attempting to start a race war with a mass shooting at a rap show in Atlanta

In May, a man in Arizona was arrested for planning to massacre a rap show in Atlanta in an attempt to start a race war.

Accordingly WSB-TV 2 AtlantaMark Adams Prieto sold guns to people in preparation for a race war before the 2024 presidential election. Prieto was arrested on the orders of the U.S. Department of Justice and indicted by a federal grand jury as the result of a months-long investigation led by the FBI.

The investigation into Prieto will begin in October 2023 after a reliable source revealed that Prieto “expressed a desire to start a race war before the 2024 U.S. presidential election.”

The investigation led to conversations at gun shows where he began advocating for the mass shooting of “blacks, Jews or Muslims.” The insider told the FBI that “Prieto believes martial law will be implemented shortly after the 2024 election and that a mass shooting should occur before martial law is implemented.”

Prieto was surveilled from January to March and undercover agents were sent to talk to him, eventually uncovering his idea. Prieto did not have a specific show, but focused on Atlanta, the State Farm Arena and the African-American community. Court documents quote him as saying:

“The reason I say Atlanta. Why, why is Georgia such a (expletive)-upward state now? When I was a kid, that was one of the most conservative states in the country. Why isn’t it now? Because when crime got worse in LA, St. Louis and all these other cities, all the (expletives) moved out of those (places) and moved to Atlanta. That’s why it’s not so great anymore. And they’ve been there for a couple, several years.”

Prieto’s plan included leaving Confederate flags across the country as a sign that “white people” are the enemy and chanting “KKK all the way.”

Prieto was arrested while driving through New Mexico to visit his mother in Florida. He was carrying seven firearms. A search warrant at his home turned up more weapons, including an unregistered short-barreled rifle.

He is accused of arms trafficking, transferring a weapon for use in a hate crime and possession of an unregistered weapon.

Justice officials said each conviction for gun trafficking and gun transfers for a hate crime carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, or both. In addition, a conviction for possession of an unregistered firearm carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, or both. Each charge also carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in federal prison.

If convicted of possession of an unregistered firearm, the maximum penalty is ten years in prison and a $250,000 fine.