A Bad Bunny concert in Atlanta was targeted by a man who was planning a mass shooting in order to incite a race war, a court has heard.
Mark Adams Prieto, 58, was indicted by a federal grand jury in Arizona on Tuesday (June 11) on charges of firearms trafficking, transfer of a firearm for use in a hate crime and possession of an unregistered firearm.
The indictment alleges that between January and March this year, Prieto was held under surveillance by the FBI after a source reported that he had expressed his desire to incite a race war ahead of the 2024 US presidential election (via NBC News).
It is alleged the source told the FBI that they had spoken to Prieto more than 15 times over the course of three years at gun shows, with the affidavit stating that the chats became more suspicious and alarming as time went on. The source said that one comment included Prieto “advocating for a mass shooting”, targeting Blacks, Jews or Muslims, the affidavit adds.
The source said, “Prieto believes that martial law will be implemented shortly after the 2024 election and that a mass shooting should occur prior” to it, allegedly asking the source late last year if they were “ready to kill a bunch of people.”
Prieto allegedly also attempted to enlist an undercover FBI agent to assist him with the planning of the mass shooting, reportedly targeting two Bad Bunny shows at Atlanta’s State Farm Arena on May 14 and 15.
Prieto was arrested on May 14 while in possession of seven firearms, and if convicted, Prieto faces a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison, a $250,000 fine or both for the first two offences, and a maximum 10 years in prison and the same fine or both for the third.
Meanwhile, last October, Bad Bunny released his fifth studio album, ‘Nadie Sabe Lo Que Va a Pasar Mañana’ (‘Nobody Knows What Is Going To Happen Tomorrow’). In a four-star review, NME wrote: “Through his sprawling and ambitious album, Bad Bunny spins the trappings of fame into Latin trap gold, and, as his album title promises, he continues to blaze his own trail with big carpe diem energy.”
Shortly afterwards, he reacted furiously to a viral AI track that was created using a replica of his voice. ‘Demo #5: Nostalgia’ was created using FlowGPT, and also replicated the voices of Daddy Yankee and Justin Bieber.
The Puerto Rican rapper took to his WhatsApp channel to address the song. “There are people who I understand, and people I don’t… There are people who I connect with, and people I don’t.”
“If you guys like that shitty song that is viral on TikTok, leave this group right now. You guys don’t deserve to be my friends.”