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In the latest incident fueling suspicions that conservatives want to incite MAGA violence around the upcoming presidential election, a suspected white supremacist has been charged for allegedly plotting “a race war” by way of a mass shooting of Black and brown people in Atlanta.
Arizona man Mark Adams Prieto, 58, was indicted by a grand jury on Tuesday under federal hate crime charges that could land him in prison for well over a decade if convicted, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Prieto apparently was encouraged at the prospect of carrying out his racist violence, originally planned for last month, after he made the acquaintance of two men he thought were also racist who turned out to be working with the FBI.
More from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Arizona:
The indictment alleges that, between January 2024 and May 2024, Prieto had discussions with two individuals working with the Federal Bureau of Investigation to devise a plan to commit a mass shooting of African Americans and other minorities to incite a race war prior to the 2024 United States Presidential Election. 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 targeted event was a concert in Atlanta that was going to be held on May 14 and May 15, 2024.
The indictment further alleges that, having discussed specific details about the planned attack, Prieto sold two rifles to one of the individuals, an AK-style rifle on February 25, 2024, and an AR-style rifle on March 24, 2024. During the entire investigation, the Federal Bureau of Investigation closely monitored Prieto’s movements. On May 14, 2024, Prieto was stopped by law enforcement driving east from Arizona through New Mexico along Interstate 40. Prieto was in possession of seven firearms and was taken into federal custody. Law enforcement then executed a search warrant at his home in Prescott. Law enforcement found more firearms in his residence, including an unregistered short-barreled rifle.
Prieto was charged with Firearms Trafficking and Transfer of Firearm for Use in a Hate Crime as well as Possession of an Unregistered Firearm, which fetch maximum sentences of 15 years and 10 years, respectively. If convicted of both crimes, Prieto also faces hefty fines of $250,000 for each charge.
The indictment in Arizona seemingly validated concerns of such violence recently expressed by Democratic California Congresswoman Maxine Waters, who said she was concerned Donald Trump’s criminal conviction could embolden his followers to incite political violence.
Specifically, Waters wondered whether the Republican presidential candidate is using the verdict as a way to incite violence from his rabid followers who have shown their willingness to literally fight on his behalf.
Following Trump’s conviction on all 34 counts in a criminal trial in which he was accused of paying hush money to porn star Stormy Daniels via illegal means for political purposes – the first time a former president of the United States has even been convicted of a felony crime – he claimed he is “an innocent man” who is “fighting for our Constitution.”
Those last four words were cause for pause, Waters suggested to MSNBC earlier this month while also wondering if that was essentially a call to arms for Trump’s MAGA base of blindly faithful followers.
“I am going to spend some time with the criminal justice system, with the justice system asking them ‘tell us what’s going on with the domestic terrorists,’” Waters said on Sunday. “Are they preparing a civil war against us? Should we be concerned about our safety? What is he doing with this divisive language?”
Waters continued by asking: “How far is this going to go? Are they going to be attacking? Whom are they going to attack? What are we going to do? We’re trying to get an investigation going about that.”
Waters said Trump’s rhetoric can’t be ignored.
“It is dangerous and we are going to have to be sure that we understand that we’re now at risk with this man talking in this way that he is doing,” Waters added.
This is America.
SEE ALSO:
Why Donald Trump’s Felony Conviction Has No Impact On Black Voters
Trump, Now A Felon, Earns His Stripes As The Grand Dragon Of Political Racism
