WAKEFIELD, Mass. (AP) — An hourslong standoff with a group of heavily armed men that partially shut down Interstate 95 ended Saturday with 11 suspects in custody, Massachusetts state police said. The standoff shut down a portion of I-95 for much of the morning, causing major traffic problems during the Fourth of July holiday weekend. Authorities said the interstate is now reopened and the shelter-in-place orders for Wakefield and Reading were lifted.
The standoff began around 2 a.m. when police noticed two cars pulled over on I-95 with hazard lights on after they had apparently run out of fuel, authorities said at a Saturday press briefing. At least some of the suspects were clad in military-style gear with long guns and pistols, Mass State Police Col. Christopher Mason said. He added that they were headed to Maine from Rhode Island for “training.”
“You can imagine 11 armed individuals standing with long guns slung on an interstate highway at 2 in the morning certainly raises concerns and is not consistent with the firearms laws that we have in Massachusetts,” Mason said.
In a video posted to social media Saturday morning, a man who did not give his name, but said he was from a group called Rise of the Moors, broadcast from Interstate 95 in Wakefield near exit 57. “We are not antigovernment. We are not anti-police, we are not sovereign citizens, we’re not Black identity extremists,” said the man who appeared to be wearing military-style equipment. “As specified multiple times to the police that we are abiding by the peaceful journey laws of the United States.”
The website for the group says they are “Moorish Americans dedicated to educating new Moors and influencing our Elders.” Mason said he understood the suspects, who did not have firearms licenses, have a different perspective on the law.
“I appreciate that perspective,” he said “I disagree with that perspective at the end of the day, but I recognize that it’s there.” Mason said he had no knowledge of the group, but it was not unusual for the state police to encounter people who have “sovereign citizen ideology,” although he did not know if the people involved in the Wakefield standoff was a part of that.
The men refused to put down their weapons or comply with authorities’ orders, claiming to be from a group “that does not recognize our laws” before taking off into a wooded area, police said. Mason said the suspects surrendered after police tactical teams used armored vehicles to tighten the perimeter around them.
Police initially reported nine suspects were taken into custody, but two more were taken into custody in their vehicle later Saturday morning. Two suspects were hospitalized, but police said it was for preexisting conditions that had nothing to do with the standoff.
Police and prosecutors are working to determine what charges the members of the group will face. The suspects were expected to appear in court in Woburn on Tuesday, Middlesex County District Attorney Marian Ryan said.
Did nfac not attract enough idiots to fall for it so they had to do part deux?
Pun intended.
It’s legal to run from police if you’re black in Massachusetts. Seriously it is ! R.I. & Maine don’t have the mag limit laws Ma. does so I’m thinking hi cap mags will be the only charge that sticks. Never heard of this group but they didn’t train enough for roadside emergencies.
Hangman
There’s your white supremacist terrorist fer ya China Joe.
Welcome to the Upside Downs.
Col. Christopher Mason, You are an idiot and an asshole and a traitor to our Nation known as America, and our true Laws.
Your Statement: (Retard that you must be)
“I appreciate that perspective,” he said “I disagree with that perspective at the end of the day, but I recognize that it’s there.” Mason said he had no knowledge of the group, but it was not unusual for the state police to encounter people who have “sovereign citizen ideology,” although he did not know if the people involved in the Wakefield standoff was a part of that.”
At any point in your life and education, did you ever come to know what an Oxymoron is?
You are using an Oxymoron to describe, what only a true Moron would ever define themselves as!
This is all stemming from your Corporate Agenda driven training on what you are told is “Extremism”…and they have fooled you to the point of retardation whereas, you use a term that is in itself “Oxymoronic”.
One cannot ever be “Sovereign” and a “Citizen” at the same time, how is it, you can’t understand this simple thing?
You do not understand our laws that are supreme to all others…I dare you to show us where the authority exists that makes the bill of rights subservient to any jurisdiction?
from your Statement:
“have a different perspective on the law”….
There is no possible thing as a different perspective on the Law!!!!!!!!!!!!
The only Law is the Bill of rights in America, at least for American Nationals…………….
You will be dealt with as the traitors you are, and you are in good company along with these fkn retard Moorish mthrfkrs….
They keep trying to use the Corporate Maritime Courts to fight their “Cases” against the restrictive corporate system in which they find themselves….They are lost like many others…
Any bets on how fast this story disappears because they werent white supremists?