A 58-year-old Arizona man who spent months planning a violent attack on a Bad Bunny show in Atlanta in May to spark a race war ahead of November's presidential election was indicted by a federal grand jury on Tuesday. According NBC NewsMark Adams Prieto was charged with trafficking in firearms, transporting a firearm for use in a hate crime and possession of an unregistered firearm following a months-long investigation by the FBI that led to his arrest last month.
The Justice Department said Prieto is currently in the custody of the US Marshals Service awaiting transfer from New Mexico to Arizona. NBC reported that according to an arrest affidavit, officials began investigating Prescott, of Arizona, Prieto in October after a confidential source told a Phoenix FBI agent that a man – later identified as Prieto – had spoken that he wanted to instigate a race war in the foreground. until the November elections.
The source told authorities they had spoken with Prieto more than 15 times over three years at gun shows, where their conversations turned from small talk to political discussions. Last year, however, the source told authorities that Prieto began making related comments “supporting a mass murder” that the affidavit said would specifically target black people, as well as Jews and Muslims.
Prieto — a gun show salesman who allegedly traded his personal guns for cash or trade deals to avoid detection by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives — reportedly believed that “martial law would be implemented shortly after 2024 election and that a mass shooting would have to happen before it was called, asking the source in late 2023 if they were “prepared to kill a bunch of people.”
The FBI had been monitoring Prieto from January to March of this year, with the affidavit alleging that on Jan. 21 Prieto told the source and an undercover FBI agent acting as the source's partner at a Phoenix gun show that wanted help carrying out a mass shooting targeting black people at an unspecified rap show in Atlanta. Describing his reasoning for choosing Atlanta, the affidavit said Prieto explained, “When I was a kid, [Georgia] 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 [N-words] moved by them [places] and moved to Atlanta. That's why it's not such a big deal anymore.”
Prieto reportedly said he wanted to attack a hip-hop show because there would be a large gathering of African-Americans there and planned to leave behind confederate flags to send the message that “we're going to fight back now, and every Whitey will be the enemy in the whole country,” adding “KKK all the way” and that he wanted to show “no mercy, no quarter.” Prieto also reportedly made plans to travel to Atlanta in advance to store weapons in the area, stressing that having a “high body count” was the most important aspect of the planned attack.
On March 23, Prieto attended another gun show in Arizona where he reportedly told an undercover agent that he was still planning the attack, fearing that if he waited until after the election, “they might have everything in place that you can't drive . they will stop you,” according to the affidavit. At that point Prieto was seen sharpening up at a pair of Bad Bunny shows at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta on May 14 and 15, telling the undercover agent he wanted them to wear hoodies because he thought they wouldn't raise any alarms dressed like that. way to a hip-hop show. The next day Prieto allegedly sold an AR-15 to the undercover agent for $1,000 and told him to use it during the attack and to bring with him as many gun magazines as he could carry.
At a subsequent gun show in April in Prescott, the affidavit said that when the undercover agent asked Prieto if his attack was still targeted for May, he said he planned to push the date. Prieto was subsequently arrested in New Mexico on May 14 and admitted to knowing the undercover agent and the source and discussing the possible attack in a public place in Atlanta.
“However, he told the agents that he did not intend to proceed with the attack,” the affidavit said, noting that Prieto also allegedly admitted to selling the AR-15 to the agent and told him it would be a good weapon to use in the attack . According to Ministry of JusticePrieto allegedly told agents he had seven firearms in his car before being taken into custody, and when agents searched his home they found additional firearms as well as an unclassified short-barreled rifle.
Each conviction for trafficking in firearms and transporting firearms for use in a hate crime carries a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, or both. a conviction for possession of an unregistered firearm carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. a fine of $250,000, or both;
A representative for Bad Bunny had not responded to Billboard's request for comment by press time.
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