Eleven men were arrested Saturday after a long roadside altercation between Massachusetts police officers and a group of heavily armed men in tactical gear who claimed to be part of a group called Rise of the Moors.
Dozens of police officers from Massachusetts and New Hampshire responded to the standoff that closed part of a freeway for several hours and prompted authorities to order people in the surrounding communities to take protection on the spot.
The men who appeared to be broadcasting the stalemate on YouTube eventually surrendered to police without any shots being fired, authorities said. There were no injuries, although three of the men in the group were hospitalized with pre-existing conditions unrelated to the stalemate.
“I attribute patience, professionalism, and partnership to the successful resolution of this matter,” said Col. Christopher Mason of the Massachusetts State Police. “At the end of the day, we have the desired result, which is a safe solution.”
The stalemate began around 1:30 a.m. on Saturday, according to the State Police, when a state trooper stopped to look for two vehicles that had stopped in the breakdown lane of Interstate 95 in Wakefield, about 15 miles north of Boston. The men filled their gas tanks with their own fuel, and they appeared to be carrying military tactical equipment and rifles and other weapons. Colonel Mason said the men said they were going to Maine from Rhode Island for “training”.
When the men did not produce the required IDs and gun licenses, the soldier asked for reinforcements, Colonel Mason said.
“You can imagine that eleven armed people standing on a freeway at 2am with long guns are sure to raise concerns and are inconsistent with the firearms laws we have here in Massachusetts,” said Colonel Mason. “I understand that you have a different perspective. I appreciate this perspective. I do not agree with this perspective. “
First, two armed men were arrested, Colonel Mason said, and the negotiators spent hours talking to other members of the group, some of whom were in the woods by the highway and others in their vehicles.
An on-site protection order has been placed for residents of Wakefield and Reading and part of Interstate 95 has been closed to traffic.
By 10.15 a.m., the police had arrested the nine remaining members of the group. All surrendered without incident, Colonel Mason said, and “a number” of firearms were confiscated.
The police lifted the detention order and the motorway was released after the men were arrested.
Middlesex County’s district attorney Marian Ryan said she believed the men would face “firearms and other charges” Tuesday. State police said several of the men refused to provide any information about their identity, which delayed the booking process.
The Massachusetts state website states, “The laws governing the transportation of firearms can be confusing. Basically: If you keep the weapon unloaded and locked in a suitcase in the trunk or rear storage compartment of a truck or SUV, you must comply with the applicable laws. “
Colonel Mason said the men involved in the standoff said they were part of a group called Rise of the Moors. On the group’s website, Rise of the Moors says it seeks “equal justice under our own right and not under the United States government because we are not citizens of the United States.”
“Since we are not US citizens, we owe the United States government no tax obligations,” it says on the website.
They describe themselves as “Moorish Americans devoted to educating new Moors and influencing our elders,” according to the website.
Colonel Mason said the group’s “professed leader wanted to know that their ideology is not anti-government”.
“Our research will give us more insight into their motivations and ideology,” he said.
“We are not anti-government,” said one man early Saturday morning in a livestream on the group’s YouTube channel.
The man, who was wearing military clothing, said the group stopped to refuel with petrol cans to avoid “unnecessary stops” while carrying firearms. The man also said the group was traveling to their “private country”.
“We have no intention of being hostile, we have no intention of being aggressive,” he later added. “We are not against the government, we are not against the police, we are not sovereign citizens and we are not extremists with a black identity.”
“We are foreigners,” called another member of the group from the background.
Recognition…YouTube channel “Uprising of the Moors”
Rise of the Moors appears to be based in Pawtucket, RI, according to the group’s website. The group did not immediately respond to an email requesting a comment.
Pawtucket police “know” the group and have had “various interactions” with them, said Emily Rizzo, a Pawtucket Mayor spokeswoman, who said they could not immediately provide further details.
According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, a Moorish sovereign civil movement is an extremist ideology that emerged in the early 1990s. It is an offshoot of the anti-government movement for sovereign citizens, which believes that individual citizens have sovereignty over the authority of federal and state governments and are independent of them. According to the centre’s website, the groups are typically small and consist of a few dozen followers.
It is unclear what connection Rise of the Moors could have with this movement.
According to a 2016 report by the Anti-Defamation League, the Moorish sovereign citizen movement began when people fused the beliefs of sovereign citizens with some of the beliefs of the Moorish Temple of Science, a 1913 religious sect.
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the movement grew and absorbed other black sovereign groups, according to the ADL. had started independently
The report states that Moorish sovereign citizens committed the same criminal activities as “traditional” sovereign civic groups, including violent crimes, fraud, defrauding and intimidating public officials.
