Two members of self-styled militant group will be sentenced in July
WAKEFIELD — Two men who claim to be part of a group called the Rise of the Moors were found guilty in connection with a long armed standoff off Route 128 in Wakefield in 2021, the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office said Friday.
Jamhal Latimer was convicted on multiple gun charges, including unlawful possession of a large capacity weapon, unlawful possession of a shotgun or rifle and improper storage of a rifle or shotgun near a minor, according to the district attorney’s office.
Steven Anthony Perez was found guilty of unlawful possession of a firearm and use or wearing body armor during a felony, authorities said in a release Friday.
“The defendants in this case disrupted multiple communities and jeopardized the safety of many residents who were traveling or intending to travel on a busy Fourth of July weekend,” said District Attorney Marian Ryan. “Both Jamhal Tavon Sanders Latimer and Steven Anthony Perez demonstrated a disregard for our laws and failed to comply with the directives of multiple police agencies on scene.”
Both men are expected to be sentenced next month.
On July 3, 2021, authorities say Latimer and Perez and two of their cars were found by State Police in the breakdown lane of Route 128 north between the North Avenue exit and the Stoneham/Reading exit wearing military style camouflage clothes and body armor.
Latimer was armed with an AR-style large capacity rifle and falsely claimed he was the leader of an armed militia from Rhode Island, the district attorney’s office said, and that they were on their way to Maine to “train.”
Latimer and Perez were with nine other people, according to police, who Latimer referred to as “his men.”
Two of the people were also carrying loaded, large-capacity AR-style riles with large capacity magazines, authorities said.
The trooper then asked the men for their driver’s and firearms licenses, and they said they didn’t have them, according to police.
When the trooper asked Latimer and Perez to put their guns down, they refused, authorities said.
At some point, police say several of the men took off into the woods with their firearms, prompting the standoff. The incident led to a shelter-in-place order being issued for parts of Wakefield and Reading.
Police said they seized three large-capacity AR-style rifles from the group’s vehicles, along with a bolt-action rifle, a semi-automatic shotgun, two “drum” large-capacity magazines capable of holding fifty rounds or more, dozens of thirty-plus round large-capacity magazines, and three semi-automatic pistols with hundreds of rounds of ammunition in varying calibers.
A member of the group posted a series of videos on YouTube throughout the standoff making various claims. The speakers did not identify the name of their group in any of the videos. Other media outlets have reported they call themselves “The Moorish American Arms” and “Rise of the Moors,” which is the name of the YouTube account that streamed all three videos.
All 11 suspects, including a 17-year-old, were eventually arrested.
Eight guns, including three AR-15s, were seized, according to police, who said none of the suspects had licenses to carry guns.
The group’s website describes them as “Moorish Americans dedicated to educating new Moors and influencing our Elders.”
PART OF ROUTE 128 had to be shut down for hours on the Saturday of the 2021 July Fourth weekend because a group of armed men from Rhode Island took off into the woods when confronted by police.
