A Massachusetts police chief said officers used a sonic boom to disable Rise of the Moors suspects, helping authorities apprehend 11 a...
A Massachusetts police chief said officers used a sonic boom to disable Rise of the Moors suspects, helping authorities apprehend 11 armed men on Interstate 95 during an hours-long standoff on July 3.
The group of armed individuals, who identify as Moorish Americans and collectively as Rise of the Moors, were refueling gas tanks at 1.30am with their own fuel and told law enforcement that they were traveling from Rhode Island to Maine for 'training.'
When police asked them to drop their weapons, they refused, resulting in an 11-hour stand-off.
Wakefield Police Chief Steven Skory told a local town council meeting that officers deployed a high pitch alarm is known as an LRAD, which Skory describes as an 'audible alarm that basically disables someone temporarily' during the stand-off, finally bringing it to an end.
Wakefield Police Chief Steven Skory told a local town council meeting that officers deployed a high pitch alarm is known as an LRAD, which Skory describes as an 'audible alarm that basically disables someone temporarily' during the stand-off, finally bringing it to an end
A Massachusetts police chief said officers used a sonic boom to disable Rise of the Moors suspects, helping authorities apprehend 11 armed men on Interstate 95 during an hours -long standoff on July 3 (pictured is footage from police body cam)
A Massachusetts State Police trooper saw two cars with their hazard lights on parked on the shoulder of Interstate-95, near the town of Wakefield, around 1:30 a.m. The group of heavily armed men were refilling gas tanks with their own fuel and told law enforcement that they were headed to Maine for 'training'
Jahmal Latimer also known as 'Talib Abdulla Bey' cofounded the militia group which claims to be a non-profit educational group based out of Rhode Island. He identifies himself on the group webpage as the chief of the 'Rhode Island State Republic and Providence Plantations'
According to Skory, when the trooper asked members of the group to produce licenses for the firearms, members of the group indicated they weren't licensed or didn't have copies of licenses on them.
They then took up the 'sovereign attitude that they did not have to adhere by our laws,' Skory said.
Bodycam footage taken by a cop at the scene shows the interaction, which led up to the standoff. It begins with a cop approaching the group's purported leader Jamhal Tavon Sanders Latimer, 29, also known as Jamhal Talib Abdullah Bey.
The cop asks ‘Do any of you guys have a license on you?’ and Latimer says no. They again say no when asked if they have any forms of identification.
Asked what they were planning, Latimer says, ‘I have private land in Maine so we’re going up to do some training there.’
Latimer agrees to give him personal information and the cop asks for his name, birthday and social security number.
‘I don’t have a social,’ he says and the cop asks, ‘Were you born in the United States?’
There’s a long pause after that as Latimer writes his information down for the cop.
‘I’m just trying to see what the situation here is. You are on the highway, you guys got AR-15s?’
‘Yeah.’
The cop goes to their next car and Latimer follows him and says, ‘I want to make sure he’s safe. I’m fine, I was in the Marine Corps.’
The cop lets him follow and asks the driver of the next car for his license and registration, which he says he doesn’t have.
Latimer continues to hover over him and he says, ‘If you don’t mind, can you just stand over there. I just don’t want people getting freaked out on the road.’
The cop asks Latimer to explain again why they are on the side of the road and he says that their plan is to travel from Rhode Island to Maine without making any unnecessary stops. They have cans of fuel in their truck to refill without having to stop at any gas stations.
‘There are laws specifying that as long as you’re not making any unnecessary stops through the state, you could travel with your arms,’ he says.
The cop, who appears increasingly frustrated, asks is about having a license to carry, to which he says, ‘In the state of Rhode Island, you’re not required to have a license to have a rifle. So as long as I’m not required to have it in the state I’m from, I’m allowed to pass through as long as I’m not making any unnecessary stops.’
After Latimer’s explanation, the cop adds, ‘the only issue here is that he doesn’t have a license to drive. Does anyone here have a license to drive?’
‘I have a few guys that have it, but I told them not to bring anything that could identify us because of the nature of what we’re trying to do,’ Latimer says.
They then agree to switch drivers to someone who has a license and the footage ends there.
Earlier footage shows what happened minutes later when the cop says that a highway patrol supervisor will look the group’s information and follow up with them. He adds, ‘In the meantime, until then, I’m gonna have to ask you all to put your guns down.’
Latimer says, ‘Oh no, we’re not gonna do that.’
‘I’m not taking your guns away from you,’ the cop says.
‘If I told you to tell you men to put their guns down, would you do it? Absolutely not.’
The cop says, ‘Now you’re making this a difficult situation.’
Latimer continues, ‘You’re being aggressive. I have the paperwork for the state laws notifying that we could make a peaceful journey to our destination without making unnecessary stops, you’re stopping us, we’re trying to continue to make our journey to our final destination to our private land where we can train legally, which is in the second amendment, the right to a well-regulated militia and that right shall not be infringed so for you to ask me and my men to put down our arms, you’re infringing on our second amendment rights.’
‘Right now, the two drivers here could be arrested for not having a driver’s license well operating out of state . . . just for our safety, we’ve got to put the guns down.’
‘For our safety, we can’t put our guns down,’ he says.
The footage ends before several of the men fled the scene into the woods nearby, after which the Massachusetts State Police issued an urgent shelter-in-place warning for residents Wakefield and Reading, and urged them to lock their doors. They added that the group were 'dangerous' and 'do not recognize US laws'.
According to the group's website, Rise of the Moors is based in Pawtucket, Rhoe Island and is one of 25 active anti-governmental sovereign-citizen groups identified by the Southern Poverty Law Center in 2020.
While the group's Facebook page has 1,100 followers and a YouTube channel with 17,000 subscribers, the total number of members is unknown.
Bodycam footage taken by a cop at the scene shows what led up to the standoff.
It begins with a cop pointing a flashlight at the cars as the group's purported leader Jamhal Tavon Sanders Latimer, 29, also known as Jamhal Talib Abdullah Bey, approaches him.
Militia leader Jamhal Tavon Sanders Latimer, 29, also known as Jamhal Talib Abdullah Bey, told the judge: 'I don't understand how these charges can be brought against me'
Jamhal Talib Abdullah Bey (pictured in the center wearing a turban) poses with fellow members of the Rise of the Moors group in January 2021
The cop questions what the group are doing and Latimer, a former U.S. Marine, says, 'We're a local militia from Rhode Island. We're going to Maine. We weren't going to be make unnecessary stops. We have fuel in our truck so we can gas up here so that way we could just keep going through.'
The cop asks if they have their licenses and they all say 'No, we don't have licenses.' They again say no when asked if they have any forms of identification.
Asked what they were planning, Latimer says, 'I have private land in Maine so we're going up to do some training there.'
Latimer agrees to give him personal information and the cop asks for his name, birthday and social security number.
'I don't have a social,' he says and the cop asks, 'Were you born in the United States?'
Skory told the council that the trooper informed the men, who were dressed in tactical gear and armed with long rifles and handguns, they would likely be arrested.
Eight individuals then retreated into the woods and the regional SWAT team was called in, Skory said.
Two suspects returned from the woods and were arrested and the perimeter was secured.
When the additional six suspects returned from the woods, police attempted to take them into custody, Skory said.
In addition to Latimer, those arrested were Robert Rodriguez, 21, Wilfredo Hernandez, 23, Alban El Curraugh, 27, Aaron Lamont Johnson, 29, Quinn Cumberlander, 40, Lamar Dow, 34, and Conrad Pierre, 29, of Baldwin, New York.
Following the arrests, police then coordinated with the town's Department of Public Works to position dump trucks complete with plows on the highway to discourage suspects from attempting to flee, Skory told the council.
There were no injuries to any officers or suspects, he added.
Some of the men were arraigned Tuesday and face several charges, including unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition and the use of body armor in commission of a crime, in connection with the July 3 standoff.
At the arraignment, Latimer told the judge: 'I don't understand how these charges can be brought against me.'
A month before his arrest, Latimer was seen bragging about his firearm arsenal on YouTube.
Latimer and the Rise of the Moors have a large social media presence, with more than 16,000 subscribers to the group's YouTube channel, in which the leader posts videos showing off firearms and discussing 'the constitution.'
In June, a New Jersey homeowner got more than she bargained for when a group of Rise of the Moors men broke into her newly-purchased home and claimed it as their 'ancestral home'.
In a TikTok video that has garnered over 325,000 views, Shanetta Little, 37, or @regblackgrl, describes her bizarre encounter with the extremist group in a 49-part 'story time' explanation which ended with a SWAT team being called in.
During a Town Council meeting, Wakefield Police Chief Steven Skory said officers used a sonic boom to disable Rise of the Moors suspects, helping authorities apprehend 11 armed men on Interstate 95 during an hours -long standoff on July 3
In the video, Little explains the men broke into her Newark home while she wasn't there on June 18, sawed off the locks, and changed them.
She noticed the break-in when she arrived at her home one afternoon to have the gas lines fixed and discovered her keys didn't work.
The Rise of The Moors, which flies the Moroccan flag, is centered on the belief that its followers are the 'aboriginal people' of the US and takes its teachings partly from a religious sect known as the Moorish Science Temple.
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