MA State Police charge 11 Black Supremacists over armed standoff that shut down I-95 near Boston

Eleven members of a Black Supremacist militia group have been charged with significant gun crimes following an armed standoff with police that partially shut down a major interstate.

On Saturday, a Massachusetts State Trooper saw two cars on the side of I-95 near the town of Wakefield. He pulled over to investigate. He discovered a group of men wearing camouflage, body armored, and openly brandishing long rifles and handguns. They fled into nearby woods when they saw the officer.

After a standoff that lastest for hours and shut down part of I-95, the men surrendered to a SWAT team. They were traveling from Rhode Island to Maine to engage in weapons training, and one of their cars had run out of gas.

During the standoff, police called on the local community to shelter in place. One of the men tweeted that they belonged to a group called “The Rise of the Moors.” None of the men had permits to carry weapons. Police say none of the men were in possession of any valid driver’s licenses.

The suspects are members of the “Black Moorish Movement.” This movement is notorious for issuing its own driver’s licenses that bear the flag of Morrocco. They typically claim that they are not legally obliqued to follow US law. They also claim that Sub-Saharan Africans sailed to the Western Hemisphere long before Christopher Columbus and helped American Indian groups jump-start their civilizations.

The movement was founded in New Jersey in 1913 by Timothy “Prophet Noble” Drew. Wallace Fard, the founder of the Nation of Islam, was an early member of the group who quit when he was not allowed to succeed Drew as the leader.  Fard later founded the Nation of Islam in Detroit in 1930.

The suspects appeared in Malden District court today, and more members of their movement attended the hearing.

Two weeks ago, a member of the Black Moor movement allegedly shot a Florida police officer in the head execution-style. The officer made a miraculous recovering, while the suspect was found hunkered down in a treehouse full of weapons and body armor. He was captured on land used by the Black Moor movement and the Black Supremacist militia, Not F%^&ing Around Coalition [NFAC].

Media coverage of this story has been primarily limited to the local Boston media market only.

The defendants are identified as follows (two of the defendants continue to refuse to identify themselves):

1. JAMHAL TAVON SANDERS LATIMER, a.k.a. JAMHAL TALIB ABDULLAH BEY, 29, of Providence, R.I.;
2. ROBERT RODRIGUEZ, 21, of the Bronx, New York;
3. WILFREDO HERNANDEZ, a.k.a. WILL MUSA, 23, of the Bronx, New York;
4. ALBAN EL CURRAUGH, 27, of the Bronx, New York;
5. AARON LAMONT JOHNSON, a.k.a. TARRIF SHARIF BEY, 29, of Detroit, Mich.;
6. QUINN CUMBERLANDER, 40, of Pawtucket, R.I.;
7. LAMAR DOW, 34, of the Bronx, New York;
8. CONRAD PIERRE, 29, of Baldwin, New York;
9. A male juvenile, age 17;
10. John Doe #1, refusing to identify self;
11. John Doe #2, refusing to identify self.

All suspects are charged with the following offenses:

1. Unlawful possession of a firearm, eight counts;
2. Unlawful possession of ammunition;
3. Use of body armor in commission of a crime;
4. Possession of a high capacity magazine;
5. Improper storage of firearms in a vehicle; and
6. Conspiracy to commit a crime.

The juvenile suspect was released to his parents, while the rest are held at the Billerica House of Correction on $100,000 cash bail.