This is the moment cops confronted the leader of Rise of the Moors and ordered him to drop his weapons after seeing the citizen militia refueling at the side of Massachusetts interstate - sparking a nine-hour armed stand-off.
Police body camera footage showed Massachusetts State Police approaching two cars with their hazard lights on parked on the shoulder of Interstate-95, near the town of Wakefield, around 1.30am on July 3.
The group of heavily armed men were refilling gas tanks with their own fuel and told law enforcement that they were headed to Maine for 'training.'
Bodycam footage taken by a cop at the scene shows what led up to the standoff. It begins with a cop pointing a flashlight at the cars as the group's purported leader Jamhal Tavon Sanders Latimer, 29, also known as Jamhal Talib Abdullah Bey, approaches him.
The cop questions what the group are doing and Latimer, a former U.S. Marine, says, ‘We’re a local militia from Rhode Island. We’re going to Maine. We weren’t going to be make unnecessary stops. We have fuel in our truck so we can gas up here so that way we could just keep going through.’
The cop asks if they have their licenses and they all say ’No, we don’t have licenses.’ They again say no when asked if they have any forms of identification.
Asked what they were planning, Latimer says, ‘I have private land in Maine so we’re going up to do some training there.’
Latimer agrees to give him personal information and the cop asks for his name, birthday and social security number.
‘I don’t have a social,’ he says and the cop asks, ‘Were you born in the United States?’
The last question the cop, who appears increasingly frustrated, asks if about having a license to carry, to which he says, ‘In the state of Rhode Island, you’re not required to have a license to have a rifle. So as long as I’m not required to have it in the state I’m from, I’m allowed to pass through as long as I’m not making any unnecessary stops.’
Scroll down for video
" class="c3" scrolling="no"
Prosecutors at the trail of the 'Rise of the Moors' sovereign citizen militia revealed body camera footage of the group’s first interaction with police
A Massachusetts State Police trooper saw two cars with their hazard lights on parked on the shoulder of Interstate-95, near the town of Wakefield, around 1:30 a.m. The group of heavily armed men were refilling gas tanks with their own fuel and told law enforcement that they were headed to Maine for 'training'
Bodycam footage taken by a cop at the scene shows what led up to the standoff
Footage reveals the cops interactions with the group's purported leader Jamhal Tavon Sanders Latimer, 29, who refuses to put his gun down when asked and claims he doesn't have to obey such orders
Latimer produces paperwork that he says is documentation of the local laws to which his group is abiding and the cop says that a highway patrol supervisor will look them over and follow up with the group. He adds, ‘In the meantime, until then, I’m gonna have to ask you all to put your guns down.’
Latimer says, ‘Oh no, we’re not gonna do that.’
‘I’m not taking your guns away from you,’ the cop says.
‘If I told you to tell you men to put their guns down, would you do it? Absolutely not.’
The cop says, ‘Now you’re making this a difficult situation.’
Latimer continues, ‘You’re being aggressive. I have the paperwork for the state laws notifying that we could make a peaceful journey to our destination without making unnecessary stops, you’re stopping us, we’re trying to continue to make our journey to our final destination to our private land where we can train legally, which is in the second amendment, the right to a well-regulated militia and that right shall not be infringed so for you to ask me and my men to put down our arms, you’re infringing on our second amendment rights.’
‘Right now, the two drivers here could be arrested for not having a driver’s license well operating out of state . . . just for our safety, we’ve got to put the guns down.’
‘For our safety, we can’t put our guns down,’ he says.
Militia leader Jamhal Tavon Sanders Latimer, 29, also known as Jamhal Talib Abdullah Bey, told the judge: 'I don't understand how these charges can be brought against me'
Jahmal Latimer also known as 'Talib Abdulla Bey' cofounded the militia group which claims to be a non-profit educational group based out of Rhode Island. He identifies himself on the group webpage as the chief of the 'Rhode Island State Republic and Providence Plantations'
The footage ends before several of the men fled the scene into the woods nearby, after which the Massachusetts State Police issued an urgent shelter-in-place warning for residents Wakefield and Reading, and urged them to lock their doors. They added that the group were 'dangerous' and 'do not recognize US laws'.
The men were eventually apprehended without casualties and first appeared in court on Tuesday for arraignment. While on trial, they refused to cooperate and rejected the court's authority, claiming they are not subject to U.S. laws.
The I-95 was subsequently closed down as cops combed the area in search of the men.
Two of them were captured and arrested shortly after daybreak. Others were found and taken into custody around 10.30am.
Some of the men were arraigned Tuesday and face several charges, including unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition and the use of body armor in commission of a crime, in connection with the standoff that started early Saturday morning on Interstate 95 in Wakefield.
At the arraignment, Latimer told the judge: 'I don't understand how these charges can be brought against me.'
Quinn Cumberlander, 40, of Pawtucket, told the judge he was a 'foreign national' who cannot face criminal charges, and said he did not want a defense attorney
One defendant, who has refused to identify himself to authorities, told the judge only that he was a 'free Moor.' He is one of 11 people charged in connection with an armed standoff
Defendant Conrad Pierre appeared in court with notations written all over his shirt, which appeared to reference court cases and legal theories in support of his unique worldview
Latimer waived his right to an attorney, but the judge said she would have a lawyer speak to him about his rights before the next hearing in the case.
Pleas of 'not guilty' were entered on behalf of all the defendants, who were held without bail pending a hearing Friday to determine whether they are dangerous.
Security was tight for the hearing at Malden District Court, with scores of state police securing the perimeter as bomb-sniffing dogs checked for explosives.
The arraignments were delayed for hours and descended into a circus-like atmosphere, with supporters of the militiamen logging on to Zoom to heckle the court.
The first to appear, Quinn Cumberlander, 40, of Pawtucket, told the judge he was a 'foreign national' who cannot face criminal charges, and said he did not want a defense attorney.
Cumberlander invoked his Second Amendment right to bear arms, said the case should be heard in federal court, and said he meant no harm.
'We didn't want to cause fear. I object to being held without bail. I am not a threat to society or anybody,' he said in court.
Cumberlander described his group as a 'well-regulated militia' and said he was not opposed to the law, according to WCVB-TV.
As he began describing Saturday's events, the judge reminded him that his statements can be used against him as evidence at trial.
Robert Rodriguez, 21, of the Bronx, New York, asked that a fellow defendant serve as his
