Police name men arrested, charges in I-95 standoff in Wakefield – Boston, Massachusetts

Wakefield, Massachusetts (AP) — Massachusetts police have identified eight of the 11 men arrested after an hour-long armed standoff that partially closed Interstate Highway 95.

Police said in a news release issued late Saturday that they were charged with a variety of crimes, including illegal possession of guns and ammunition and the use of body armor in consignment of crimes.

According to state police:

Defendants are identified as follows (two of the defendants continue to refuse identification):

1. JAMHAL TAVON SANDERS LATIMER, also known as JAMHAL TALIB ABDULLAH BEY, 29, Providence, Rhode Island.
2. Robert Rodriguez, Bronx, NY, 21 years old.
3. WILFREDO HERNANDEZ, also known as WILL MUSA, 23, Bronx, NY.
4. ALBANEL CURRAUGH, Bronx, NY, 27 years old.
5. AARON LAMONT JOHNSON, also known as TARRIF SHARIF BEY, 29 years old, Detroit, Michigan.
6. QUINNCUM BERLANDER, 40, Pawtucket, Rhode Island.
7. LAMARDOW, Bronx, NY, 34 years old.
8. Conrad Pierre, 29, Baldwin, NY.
9. A 17 year old male boy.
10. John Doe # 1, refuses to identify himself.
11. John Doe # 2, refuses to identify himself.

All suspects are charged with the following charges:

1. Illegal possession of a gun, 8 counts.
2. Illegal possession of ammunition;
3. Use of body armor in criminal consignment;
4. Possession of a large magazine.
5. Improper storage of guns in the vehicle;
6. A conspiracy to commit a crime.

In addition, HERNANDEZ, JOHNSON, DOW, and a male boy have been charged with providing false names to police.

Additional charges may be incurred if ongoing investigations, including the expected search for the defendant’s two vehicles, determine that they are legitimate.

The juvenile defendant is released to custody. The remaining adults will each be released on bail at the Billerica Orthodontic Institute for $ 100,000. They will be prosecuted in the Malden District Court next week.

The trooper has recovered three AR-15 rifles, two pistols, a bolt-action rifle, a shotgun, and a short barrel rifle.

Police said the group called themselves militias and adhered to the “Moorish sovereign ideology.”

One of the arrested was a male boy, and the other two refused to reveal his name.

The standoffs began early Saturday when Massachusetts police soldiers stopped to assist a vehicle they found beside a highway in the town of Wakefield. Police later said they were refueling.

The troopers demanded backups, and most of the group entered the nearby forest until after 10 am surrendered to a police tactical team. Standoffs closed Interstate 95 in the area on busy holiday weekends, and some local residents were told to evacuate to their designated locations. ..

The group told police that they were traveling from Rhode Island to the main “training”.

A man wearing military uniform and body armor, armed with a long gun and pistol, did not have a license to carry a gun in Massachusetts.

During the standoffs, one member of the group broadcast on the social media account of the group “Rise of the Moors” that they were neither anti-government nor anti-police.

The group’s website states that they are “Moorish Americans dedicated to educating new Moors and influencing our elders.”

According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, the Moorish Sovereign Citizen Movement is a group of independent organizations and individuals that emerged as a derivative of the rebel Sovereign Citizen Movement in the 1990s. People in the movement believe that individual citizens have sovereignty and independence over the authority of the federal and state governments.

Mark Pitcavage, a senior researcher at the Anti-Defamation League’s Radical Center, said the sovereign citizens’ movement was rarely involved in paramilitary activities.

“This particular group, the Rise of the Moors, is really interested in it, which makes it unusual for a group within this movement,” said Pitcavage.

Many of the pioneers of the 1970s sovereign citizenship were white supremacists. The majority of Moorish sovereign citizens are African-American, Pitt Cabbage said.

“I think it’s very ironic that the Moorish sovereign citizen movement is so big and active. They are, in fact, many theories actually developed by white supremacists many years ago. I’m repeating, “he said.

According to police, the adults arrested on Saturday are from Rhode Island, New York, and Michigan. Each of them will be held at the Billerica Orthodontic Institute on bail of $ 100,000. They will appear in court later this week.

It was not immediately possible to determine if the suspect had a lawyer.