Massachusetts police were involved in a “standoff” with armed men on I-95. Several of them fled into the surrounding woods but were later found and detained. They say they do not recognize “our laws” but are not anti-police or anti-government.
The media coverage has been…gentle. Is this because these nine men are people of color?
The coverage consistently makes the following claims.
- “We do not intend to be hostile,
- We do not intend to be aggressive,”
- They are not “anti-police.”
- They are not “Black-identity extremists.”
- We’re not anti-government
These men are reportedly members of the Rise of the Moors, based in Rhode Island. Some outlets noted that the Southern Poverty Law Center identifies them as a
“…movement… associated with the anti-government sovereign citizens movement, and some Moorish sovereigns have come into conflict with government agencies over their refusal to obey laws. They believe that African Americans “constitute an elite class within American society with special rights,” SPLC writes.
The police blocked I-95 and locked down the area while searching for the men who had fled into the woods, including stay-in-place orders from two Massachusetts towns.
Related: Hanover Resident is Clueless About Gun Laws in New Hampshire and the Meaning of HB307
While the words militia were common, the reports I read lacked the hyperbole or bombast common were these nine men white guys in MAGA hats.
They were armed, wearing tactical gear. They claimed to have licenses for their weapons from their home state (RI), allowing them to carry through Massachusetts. No licenses were produced, the men did not provide identification, nor did they disarm when requested, and as noted, seven of them fled into the surrounding woods.
Nine white guys “in a militia” would be an insurrection, and I am told that was how this story spun up at first until it became clear that these were people of color engaged in what they claimed to be the rights of free men in America.
Amen?
Moorish sovereigns are training in Maine in full tactical gear and the police and media have managed their public statements with kit gloves.
I’m not surprised by any of it, but I am interested to know if the State will file weapons charges. Massachusetts is to guns what Turkey is to drug dealers (or was for decades). If you got caught, forget it, they tossed you into a hole.
If I had to guess, their weapons would be confiscated, and they might get fined. Still, I’d bet money this story will go away. But if these white guys or girls, the story would be in full rotation on cable news.
The usual suspects in every State House and DC would be demanding the sorts of Common Sense Gun Laws™ that have turned most Democrat-run cities into nightly insurrections against life, liberty, and any hope for happiness.
With the blessings of local Elected Democrats.
