'Rise Of The Moors' Suspects Rebuke Court In Bizarre Hearings

MEDFORD, MA — The very first arraignment for one of the men charged in connection to the I-95 weekend standoff went off the rails quickly, setting the stage for a bizarre day of hearings that saw much of the enigmatic group rebuke the court's authority.

From the moment Quinn Cumberlander, the oldest of the 11 charged and first to appear before a judge Tuesday, refused his court-appointed attorney, things spilled out of control in Malden District Court. The refusal to answer simple questions and outbursts around sovereignty and militias — both from the defendants and spectators — marked the proceedings.

Most of the defendants, all part of what had been the little-known group Rise of the Moors, refused to accept legal representation but also refused to represent themselves. They insisted a member of the Moors who was not present — and also not a lawyer in Massachusetts — represent them.

Cumberlander, a 40-year-old from Pawtucket, R.I., objected to most of the usual arraignment proceedings — everything from getting put under oath to saying whether he understood the charges, according to reporters in the courthouse. He also insisted that was not his actual name and that he was a foreign national.

Defendant after defendant followed, including who authorities said was the "self-professed leader" Jamhal Latimer, saying they did not understand the charges against them.

One defendant who has yet to give his name yelled about not waiving his rights and the country forgetting about its militias.

One defendant, Lamar Dow, accepted a lawyer. His arraignment was the only one to that point featuring no outbursts.

Due in court Tuesday were Jamhal Latimer, 29, Robert Rodriguez, 21, Wilfredo Hernandez, 23, Alban El Curraugh, 27, Aaron Johnson, 29, Quinn Cumberlander, 40, Lamar Dow, 34, Conrad Pierre, 29, and two men who have refused to identify themselves to police.

A 17-year-old male was also arrested but will face separate proceedings.

They will all be charged with unlawful possession of a firearm, eight counts; unlawful possession of ammunition; use of body armor in commission of a crime; possession of a high capacity magazine; improper storage of firearms in a vehicle; and conspiracy to commit a crime.

The juvenile, Hernandez, Johnson and Dow will be charged with furnishing a false name to police.

The Rise of the Moors is connected to the Moorish Sovereign Citizen movement, which the Southern Poverty Law Center says is extremist. Supporters of the group's thinking were present at the courthouse, where there is a heightened security presence around the courthouse.

The court had trouble keeping people from unmuting and shouting during the Zoom portions, according to reporters.

The men were arrested Saturday after hours of police negotiations. The incident started in the early morning when a state trooper noticed the men in and around two cars were heavily armed and in military-style outfits. They said there were heading from Rhode Island to Maine for "training."

The men said they did not have licenses to drive or carry firearms. They also said they did not recognize America's laws.

The man broadcasting the ensuing standoff from a closed I-95 on social media accounts associated with the Rise of the Moors was identified as Latimer. The Boston Globe reported him as a former U.S. Marine.

Latimer claimed the group was not antigovernment and did not break any U.S. laws.

Patch will update this story