Arizona man charged with trafficking guns to kill Black people

By Reuters
June 13, 2024
A man handles a revolver during the National Rifle Association annual meeting in Indianapolis, Indiana, US on April 27, 2019. — Reuters
A man handles a revolver during the National Rifle Association annual meeting in Indianapolis, Indiana, US on April 27, 2019. — Reuters

WASHINGTON: An Arizona man has been indicted on four counts of gun-trafficking crimes after federal prosecutors said an undercover sting operation revealed that he planned to kill Black people in a mass shooting to “incite a race war,” according to the indictment.

A grand jury indicted Mark Adams Prieto, 58, on Tuesday on charges of gun trafficking, transferring a gun for use in a hate crime and possession of an unregistered gun.

Prieto was driving east on a New Mexico highway when he was stopped and arrested on May 14 with seven guns in his vehicle, according to the U.S. attorney’s office for the Arizona district.