Two more arrested following police standoff in Massachusetts with armed men who do 'not recognize our laws'
Two more men were arrested following Saturday morning's standoff between police and a group of armed men who fled into the woods Saturday morning.
Approximately 40 minutes after authorities arrested nine individuals who they said do "not recognize our laws," two more suspects were found in the group's vehicles and taken into custody, Massachusetts State Police spokesman David Procopio confirmed.
Of the nine who were in custody as of 10:30 a.m., two were arrested initially, one of them armed, and the seven others were apprehended hours later, authorities said.
A state trooper reportedly saw a group of about eight armed men in military-style uniforms near Interstate 95 around 1:30 a.m. Saturday.
The men then "fled into the woods carrying rifles and handguns and appear to be contained in the wooded area adjacent to the highway," according to a statement from the Wakefield Police Department, which assisted state police.
The highway, which was closed in both directions for hours as police searched for the men, reopened its southbound traffic at 10:45 a.m., while northbound travel resumed approximately 45 minutes later.
The men identified themselves as belonging to a group known as Rise of the Moors, said State Police Col. Christopher Mason, and its website describes the group as "Moorish Americans dedicated to educating new Moors and influencing our Elders."
"Their self-professed leader wanted [it] very much known their ideology is not anti-government," he said. "Our investigation will provide us more insight into what their motivation [and] what their ideology is."
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The group said members traveled from Rhode Island to Maine for "training," authorities said.
News of the arrests occurred about five hours after the state police department said the men — whom officials said were "armed and dangerous" though "no threats were made" — had been "refusing to comply with orders to provide their information and put down their weapons.”
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Tags: News, Massachusetts, Police, Firearms
Original Author: Carly Roman
Original Location: Two more arrested following police standoff in Massachusetts with armed men who do 'not recognize our laws'
