Rise of the Moors are a 'Moorish sovereign citizens' group whose adherents say they are part of their own sovereign nation and therefore are not subject to any US law.

According to the group's website, Rise of the Moors is based in Pawtucket, Rhode Island and is one of 25 active antigovernmental sovereign-citizen groups identified by the Southern Poverty Law Center in 2020. 

While the group's Facebook page has 1,100 followers and a YouTube channel with 17,000 subscribers, the total number of members is unknown. 

Much of the dogma in Rise of the Moors is based in a religious sect known as the Moorish Science Temple. The organization was founded by Noble Drew Ali (left) in 1913. The Rise of the Moors pays tribute to the Noble Drew Ali on their website, calling him the 'first Patriot of the fallen Moors here in America' as well as the 'Savior of Humanity.' They also state that Edward Mealy El (right) is the true successor of Noble Drew Ali, whose death lead to a schism in the religion

Freddy Cruz, a research analyst with the Southern Poverty Law Center told the Washington Post: 'They have the idea that they have the authority to essentially detach themselves from the United States. So they do things like refusing to pay taxes, get driver's licenses, or register firearms, and they try to get their members to challenge those federal laws.'   

The Rise of The Moors, which flies the Moroccan flag, is centered on the belief that its followers are the 'aboriginal people' of the US and takes its teachings partly from a religious sect known as the Moorish Science Temple, a religious movement that dates back to 1913. 

It wasn't until the 1990s that the Moorish movement began merging their beliefs with 'the sovereign citizens movement.' Sovereign Citizens believe that individual citizens are independent of federal and state governments. Thus was the birth of the 'Moorish Sovereign Citizens.'       

Some Islamic historians believe that the Moors and Muslim groups reached the Americas before Christopher Columbus.

Moorish sovereigns believe this entitles them to claim immunity from federal, state, and local laws and can sometimes cite God's law or common law over constitutional authority. 

They come into conflict with federal and state authorities over their refusal to obey laws and government regulations.  

They (like other Moorish sovereign citizen groups), believe in a fictitious 1787 treaty between the United States and Morocco that grants them immunity from US law.

'There's no such treaty,' says Kenneth Gray, a retired FBI Agent who specialized in Counter-Terrorism. 'It's bogus. It's all part of their fraudulent historical claims.'

They use this perceived immunity to justify refusing to pay taxes, buy auto insurance, register their vehicles and to defraud banks and other lending institutions.

Rise of the Moors is just one offshoot of many different types of 'Moorish Sovereign Citizen' groups. Most groups tend to be small, with only a couple dozen followers.  

Some Moorish Sovereign Citizen groups believe that Black Moors were the first settlers in the United States and argue that slave ships were a fiction created by white historians to cover up their claim on the land. Others believe that a UFO mothership will soon descend to earth to collect the chosen people (Moors) and return them to their home galaxy.

The Rise of the Moor webpage states in no-uncertain terms: 'Moors are the organic or original sovereigns of this land — America.' It continues, 'When we declare our nationality as Moorish Americans we are taking back the position as the aboriginal people of the land, to which the sovereign power is vested in.'

They believe in the notion that all African-Americans (as well as Dominicans, Haitians and Tainos) were descended from African 'Moors' and therefore they do not, and should not 'identify as black.'  

The temple founded in 1913 that gives the group its Moroccan influences

Much of the dogma in Rise of the Moors is based in a religious sect known as the Moorish Science Temple.

The organization was founded by Noble Drew Ali (born as Timothy Drew) in 1913.

The Rise of the Moors pays tribute to the Noble Drew Ali on their website, calling him the 'first Patriot of the fallen Moors here in America' as well as the 'Savior of Humanity.'

Drew Ali taught that all blacks were of Moorish origins but had their Muslim identity taken away from them through slavery and racial segregation. He also encouraged use of the term 'Moor' rather than 'black' in self-identification. Many of the group's formal practices were derived from Muslim observances.

He established new traditions that required all male members of the Temple to wear a fez or turban. They added the suffixes 'Bey' or 'El' to their last names as a way to signify their Moorish heritage and the new journey as Moorish Americans.

Unlike the Rise of the Moors, most adherents of the Moorish Science Temple are not 'sovereign citizens' nor do they shows an interest in paramilitary activity.  

Members of Rise of Moors profit from selling various items through their webpage, such as online courses, e-readers and suspicious-looking financial schemes. One member named Sanchez Bey, hawks clothing apparel that 'that represents ancient knowledge' and their 'dominion and rulership over the universe.'

Another member by the name of Muris Sylfstr Mawal Bey claims to offer customers, 'the best shoes available online.' And Delvon al-Lanier Bey, provides 'Afrocentric-based spiritual and educational training.'

The Rise of the Moors' clubhouse in Rhode Island was an abandoned home which they acquired through 'adverse possession.' The property is owned by Midfirst Bank which has sued the militia group over it, reported the Globe.

Their website explains 'adverse possession' as 'simply taking what's yours and not waiting for anyone to give it to you.'

'As an example, our people have been waiting for reoperations, waiting to get access to our resources, waiting for better homes, waiting for better business and waiting for our freedom. Adverse possession puts an end to waiting.'

They threaten to 'repeat the process' until 'every Moorish family has a home and a business.'