The Daily Parker

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Cosplaying soldiers arrested in Massachusetts

I mean...

Police in Massachusetts arrested 11 people Saturday after an hours-long standoff with a group of heavily armed men near Interstate 95, sparking stay-at-home orders for nearby residents and a highway shutdown during the holiday weekend.

According to the Wakefield Police Department, several men carrying rifles and handguns took off into the woods after refusing to comply with orders during a motor vehicle stop around 1:30 a.m. The men claimed to belong to a group that “does not recognize our laws,” police said.

“No threats were made, but these men should be considered armed and dangerous,” the department said in a statement at the time.

The incident concluded around nine hours later with authorities saying all those involved had been apprehended. The men are expected to appear in district court on a variety of firearms charges Tuesday morning. In the meantime, investigators are still trying to determine what, if any, motives the group might have had.

Apparently these guys belong to a group called "Rise of the Moors," which one must assume has nothing to do with Yorkshire:

The group’s website describes its organization as a collective of “Moorish Americans,” and its members believe they are the “original sovereigns of this land — America.”

During his phone conversation, the apparent leader said his men grabbed weapons Saturday morning on I-95 when they were approached by law enforcement because they felt threatened. The apparent leader asked to be served a summons, saying law enforcement officials could deliver the summons to a table that he offered to set up in the middle of the highway.

He expressed concern about being arrested and fingerprinted, which he described as a form of self-incrimination. He said he and his men wanted to go home.

“I want my men to be safe, alive, keep and bear their arms,” he said.

I mean...I'm less interested in where people come up with these ideas, which seem like legal mondegreens. But why do they persist in believing this stuff?

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