Ariz. man accused of planning Ga. mass shooting to spark race war
ATLANTA, Ga. - An Arizona man has been arrested after planning a mass shooting during a pair of Atlanta concerts, according to the U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, 58-year-old Mark Adams Prieto, of Prescott, Arizona, planned a mass shooting at concerts held in Atlanta on May 14 and 15. He wanted to “incite a race war prior to the 2024 United States Presidential Election.”
The mass shootings would have targeted “African Americans and other minorities.”
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Court records didn’t list an attorney who could comment on Prieto’s behalf. A lawyer who briefly represented Prieto after he was arrested last month in neighboring New Mexico didn’t respond Wednesday to a request for comment.
The indictment says the 58-year-old from Prescott, Arizona, recruited the undercover FBI agent and an informant at a gun show where Prieto was a vendor. The indictment says planning for the shooting began in January and took place over several months at gun shows around Arizona, including in Phoenix and Tucson. At the gun shows, the indictment alleges, Prieto sold two rifles to be used in the shooting to the FBI agent.
Prieto was stopped driving east along Interstate 40 on May 14. Police found seven guns in his car and more guns after a search warrant was executed in his home.
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Prieto has been charged with firearms trafficking, transfer of a firearm for use in a hate crime and possession of an uned firearm. Following his arrest, court records show, a U.S. district judge in New Mexico ordered Prieto to remain in federal custody, saying the “seriousness of danger to the community is extreme” if he was to be released.
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