11 held in Massachusetts after standoff shuts I-95

WAKEFIELD, Mass. — An hourslong standoff with a group of heavily armed men that partly shut down Interstate 95 ended Saturday with 11 suspects in custody, Massachusetts State Police said.

The standoff shut down a portion of I-95 for much of the morning, causing major traffic problems during the Fourth of July holiday weekend. Authorities said the interstate was reopened and the shelter-in-place orders for Wakefield and Reading were lifted.

The standoff began around 2 a.m. when police noticed two cars pulled over on I-95 with hazard lights on after they had apparently run out of fuel, authorities said at a Saturday press briefing.

At least some of the suspects were clad in military-style gear with long guns and pistols, State Police Col. Christopher Mason said. He added that they were headed to Maine from Rhode Island for “training.”

“You can imagine 11 armed individuals standing with long guns slung on an interstate highway at 2 in the morning certainly raises concerns and is not consistent with the firearms laws that we have in Massachusetts,” Mason said. The group did not have firearms licenses.

In a video posted to social media Saturday morning, a man who did not give his name, but said he was from a group called Rise of the Moors, broadcast from Interstate 95 in Wakefield near exit 57.

“We are not antigovernment. We are not anti-police, we are not sovereign citizens, we’re not Black identity extremists,” said the man, who appeared to be wearing military-style equipment. “As specified multiple times to the police that we are abiding by the peaceful journey laws of the United States.”

The website for the group says they are “Moorish Americans dedicated to educating new Moors and influencing our Elders.”