The “Rise of the Moors” group, is a Muslim faction of U.S. citizens who do not recognize America as a valid, independent or authentic nation [Website Here].  As a result they do not consider themselves aligned with the citizenship of the U.S. as a sovereign state.  Instead they perceive their homeland as “the Maghreb Al Aqsa (America – Morocco the most extreme west)”.

Last night at approximately 2:00am ET Massachusetts state police pulled over two vehicles containing 8-10 heavily armed members of the Moor group as they were heading to a training exercise.  After several members of the group refused to comply with “papers please“, a stand-off began.   [Insert suspicious cat considering the absence of ‘probable cause’ here.]  Some of the Moors ran into the neighboring woods.  The police set up a perimeter.  After the stand-off was resolved (took all night and morning), some of the Moors were arrested [2 pictured Below].

The version of events from local Massachusetts law enforcement is:

“The Wakefield Police Department is assisting the Massachusetts State Police with a dangerous incident on Route 128 Northbound in the area of Parker Road.

During a motor vehicle stop, several heavily armed men claiming to be from a group that does not recognize our laws exited their vehicles and fled into the woodline off 128 in the area of Parker Road / Elm Street. Approximately 8 males fled into the woods carrying rifles and handguns and appear to be contained in the wooded area adjacent to the highway.  No threats were made, but these men should be considered armed and dangerous.” (read more)

It would appear the issue of ‘probable cause‘ for the original stop is part of the issue being avoided by law enforcement (and media).  The men were armed, but had broken no laws and were legally transiting between their home in Rhode Island to another location.  Unfortunately, the media reporting aligns with the obfuscated descriptions from law enforcement and , wait for it,… the FBI: “Kristen Setera, FBI Boston spokeswoman, said the FBI is “fully engaged with our state and local partners.” (link)

The police are saying the cars were pulled over in the emergency lane with their hazard lights flashing when the trooper arrived at 1:30am.  I would consider that explanation suspect, unless the guys pulled over because they needed to pee.   I doubt a convoy of heavily armed men in tactical gear wearing body cameras would just randomly pull over, but who knows.

An eye witness claims to have seen the vehicles fill up with gasoline and then get immediately pulled over after they left the gas station.  That sounds more likely, but again, I digress.  Here’s the MSM version, and keep in mind the issue of ‘probable cause’ seems to be a concern for the police, or at least is the preeminent aspect in the reporting.

MSM – [..] “The situation started around 1:30 a.m., when a state trooper saw two vehicles in the breakdown lane with their hazard lights on, Mason said.

The men claimed to be “from a group that does not recognize our laws,” according to a statement from the Wakefield Police Department.

The trooper on scene requested driver’s licenses and firearms licenses, but the individuals either said they didn’t have them, or didn’t have them in their possession, Mason said.

At some point during this interaction, a number of the individuals ran into the woods with their firearms, Mason said. Police established a perimeter, and two people were initially arrested in the woodline, one of whom was armed, according to Mason.

Massachusetts State Police said in a tweet around 5:30 a.m. that members of the group were “refusing to comply with orders to provide their information and put down their weapons.”

“Through our hostage negotiation team, we are talking with the subjects — some that are in the woods, some that are in the vehicles in the breakdown lane where the original interaction occurred — and we are hopeful that we are able to resolve this peacefully with them,” Mason said during the standoff.

Of the 11 ultimately arrested, two suspects were located in the vehicles, state police said.

The group’s self-professed leader wanted it known that their ideology is not anti-government, Mason said.

“I think the investigation that follows from this interaction will provide us more insight into what their motivation, what their ideology is … Their actions have had a significant impact on the motoring public, particularly because it’s a holiday weekend,” Mason said.

Residents of Wakefield and Reading were urged to shelter in place during the standoff. The shelter in place has since been lifted.

“We will now conduct sweeps of their 2 vehicles and woods,” Massachusetts State Police tweeted.

Kristen Setera, FBI Boston spokeswoman, said the FBI is “fully engaged with our state and local partners.” (link)

Suspicious cat remains, well, suspicious…