The self-proclaimed chief of the Rise of the Moors allegedly bragged about his arsenal of weapons on YouTube a month earlier than he and 10 different “closely armed” members of the perimeter militia group have been arrested in Massachusetts Saturday.
Jahmal Latimer and his comrades have been charged with a number of firearms offenses following an intense and weird standoff with regulation enforcement on I-95 in Wakefield — which lasted 9 hours.
Only a month earlier, a video posted on the Rise of the Moors Youtube account — which has over 16,000 followers — reportedly confirmed Latimer posing with a gun and boasting that he had three of them.
The clip, obtained by WBZ-TV, seems to have since been deleted from the group’s web page.
Within the video, the group additionally “recognized police and anyone who wished to put them below arrest as terrorists,” the station reported.
The Rise of the Moors is an anti-government, sovereign citizen motion that doesn’t acknowledge US legal guidelines, in accordance with the Southern Poverty Regulation Centre.
The group additionally believes they’re the ancestral “aboriginal folks” of the USA, in accordance with WBZ-TV.
Latimer and 10 different suspects have been charged with illegal possession of a firearm, illegal possession of ammunition, use of physique armor in crime, possession of a excessive capability journal, and improper firearm storage in a car following the standoff Saturday.
The incident simply after 1:30 a.m. when Massachusetts state troopers noticed two automobiles refueling in a breakdown lane on the freeway close to mile marker 57.
When cops stopped to help them, they seen the occupants of the car have been wearing military-style tactical gear. Some had lengthy rifles, others facet pistols, in accordance with stories.
The lads informed cops they have been touring from Rhode Island to Maine “for coaching,” police informed reporters.
The standoff was then live-streamed by Latimer and different Rise of the Moors members on Fb and YouTube — displaying the members of the group wearing navy getup and holding a Moroccan flag.
“Our nation, represented by our flag proper right here, has a treaty together with your authorities,” the person within the video, posted by Brandon Davis El, stated.
“I’d additionally prefer to reassure you that we have been being further cautious as to not break the federal legal guidelines of the USA.”
State Police Colonel Christopher Mason stated authorities didn’t know in regards to the group, nonetheless, teams like that aren’t “unusual.”
“I didn’t have any data about this particular group… for the state police it isn’t unusual for us to come across those who have sovereign citizen ideologies,” Mason stated throughout a briefing.
The 11 suspects arrested are anticipated to look in courtroom as quickly as Tuesday, Lawyer Marian Ryan stated Saturday on the briefing.
