An Arizona gun vendor allegedly plotted to target Black people in a mass shooting at an Atlanta concert in hopes of starting a “race war.”
On Tuesday (June 11), 58-year-old Mark Adams Prieto was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of firearms trafficking, transfer of a firearm for use in a hate crime, and possession of an unregistered firearm, per HuffPost.
The indictment came after Prieto was arrested last month for supplying guns to federal informants in his plot to attack Black people at a concert in Atlanta. Federal prosecutors said Prieto told the individuals that he hoped to “kill as many people as possible” and wanted to leave Confederate flags, Ku Klux Klan propaganda, and other “offensive rhetoric” at the scene of the shooting to incite a race war.
“In his mind, it had to unequivocally be perceived as race related. He expressed frustration with the direction the country is going and a willingness to do violence to change its direction,” prosecutors said.
Prosecutors further alleged that Prieto specifically chose which city to target and the guns the group would use in the shooting.
“Prieto did not know the individuals were working with the government, but instead believed that they shared his racist beliefs and wanted to commit a mass shooting to incite a race war,” the U.S. attorney’s office in Arizona said in a statement.
Following his arrest, Prieto admitted that he planned the Atlanta mass shooting but said it was only a “fantasy” and he didn’t have plans to go through with it.
Prieto’s attorney argued that the feds didn’t have adequate proof that his plot wasn’t more than fantasy or that he was a danger to the public. “Even if true,” Prieto shouldn’t be denied bail because of his alleged racist beliefs, the attorney said.
However, a judge disagreed, ordering Prieto to remain in jail.
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