Early Saturday morning, Massachusetts police in the town of Wakefield saw two cars parked on Interstate 95.
Eleven men, heavily armed and wearing military-style tactical clothing, were gassing up their vehicles.
When police asked to see their weapons registration, the men indicated that they did not have gun licenses, and that they did not recognize state laws.
A standoff ensured which lasted almost nine hours, Massachusetts State Police ordering surrounding neighborhoods to shelter in place as the unknown armed men moved into the woods nearby.
(There was a tense police standoff in Massachusetts on Saturday. Residents nearby were forced to shelter in place as police confronted a group of heavily armed men. Courtesy of CBS New York and YouTube. Posted on Jul 3, 2021.)
The suspects have been charged with unlawful possession of firearms and ammunition, among other crimes, according to the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office.
All 11 males arrested on Saturday refer to themselves as a militia and state that they adhere to “Moorish Sovereign Ideology.”
The group claimed that it was traveling from Rhode Island to Maine to conduct what it refers to as “training.”
None of the men, who were dressed in military fatigues and body armor and were armed with long guns and pistols, has a license to carry firearms.
Massachusetts State Police Troopers have recovered eight firearms thus far: three AR-15 rifles; two pistols; a bolt-action rifle; a shotgun; and a short barrel rifle.
(According to Massachusetts State Police officials, the armed group that ran from a I-95 Wakefield, MA traffic stop was headed to Maine for “training.” Courtesy of NEWS CENTER Maine and YouTube. Posted on Jul 3, 2021.)
Two men are refusing to identify themselves, and a third is an unnamed 17-year-old.
The identified suspects are Jamhal Tavon Sanders Latimer, 29; Robert Rodriguez, 21; Wilfredo Hernandez, 23; Alban el Curraugh, 27; Aaron Lamont Johnson, 29; Quinn Cumberlander, 40; Lamar Dow, 34; and Conrad Pierre, 29.
The juvenile defendant will be released to parental custody, and the remaining adults will be each be held at the Billerica House of Correction on $100,000 cash bail, and will be arraigned next week in Malden District Court.
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