The FBI has disclosed that an Arizona man allegedly attempted to incite a race war ahead of the 2024 election by planning a mass shooting at singer Bad Bunny’s concert.
The suspect, 58-year-old Mark Adams Prieto, reportedly intended to target Black people and other minorities at a hip-hop show in Atlanta in mid-May. The dates mentioned in the FBI’s newly unsealed indictment align with Bad Bunny’s concert schedule.
The FBI became aware of Prieto’s alleged intentions through a confidential informant and sent an undercover agent to get close to him during the investigation.
Prieto recruited the informant and the undercover FBI agent, believing they shared his racist views on Blacks, Jews, and Muslims. According to court documents, Prieto’s goal was to trigger a “race war prior to the 2024 United States Presidential Election.”
Prieto openly discussed specific details of his planned attack, even selling a couple of rifles to one of his two “confidants,” who were actually working with the FBI. The court documents included photos as evidence.
Bad BunnyHe allegedly told the informants that he chose Atlanta as his target because, in his view, Georgia had shifted from being a conservative state to a “f***ed up” one due to the influx of African Americans from other crime-ridden areas.
Prieto allegedly chose the Bad Bunny concert as his target due to the expected high concentration of Black attendees. He is also said to have planned to leave behind Confederate flags while shouting phrases like “whities out here killing” and “KKK all the way.”
The FBI apprehended Prieto on May 14, the day of the Bad Bunny concert at State Farm Arena, by pulling him over as he drove through New Mexico. Agents recovered seven firearms from his vehicle during the arrest.
A grand jury has indicted Prieto, and prosecutors have charged him with Firearms Trafficking, Transfer of a Firearm for Use in a Hate Crime, and Possession of an Unregistered Firearm. Fortunately, the planned mass shooting was thwarted before it could be carried out.
Written by Timothy Badger
