Crime

Rise of the Moors suspects involved in Wakefield highway standoff due in court Tuesday

All 11 defendants are scheduled to appear in Malden District Court on July 6.

By Julia Taliesin

July 5, 2021

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Email
• Email
• 29

The 11 men involved in the July 3 standoff on I-95 in Wakefield are due in Malden District Court on Tuesday for their first court appearance.

The men, identified to be from Rhode Island, New York, and Michigan, were arrested Saturday after an hours-long standoff with police. According to Massachusetts State Police, the men were armed and dressed in military fatigues and body armor, though none had a license to carry firearms, and claimed to be traveling to Maine to conduct “training.” Police recovered three AR-15 rifles, two pistols, a bolt-action rifle, a shotgun, and a short barrel rifle.

All claim to be members of Rise of the Moors, which the Southern Poverty Law Center classified as an extremist group in 2020. Police said the men referred to themselves as a militia and said they adhere to “Moorish Sovereign Ideology.” 

Police released eight of the eleven names, noting that one defendant is a juvenile and two are refusing to identify themselves.

1. Jamhal Tavon Sanders Latimer, a.k.a. Jamhal Talib Abdullah Bey, 29, of Providence, R.I.;
2. Robert Rodriguez, 21, of the Bronx, New York;
3. Wilfredo Hernandez, a.k.a. Will Musa, 23, of the Bronx, New York;
4. Alban El Curraugh, 27, of the Bronx, New York;
5. Aaron Lamont Johnson, a.k.a. Tarrif Sharif Bey, 29, of Detroit, Mich.;
6. Quinn Cumberlander, 40, of Pawtucket, R.I.;
7. Lamar Dow, 34, of the Bronx, New York;
8. Conrad Pierre, 29, of Baldwin, New York;
9. A male juvenile, age 17;
10. John Doe #1, refusing to identify self;
11. John Doe #2, refusing to identify self.

Every suspect was charged with the following six charges, though Hernandez, Johnson, Dow, and the juvenile were also charged with furnishing a false name to police.

1. Unlawful possession of a firearm, eight counts;
2. Unlawful possession of ammunition;
3. Use of body armor in commission of a crime;
4. Possession of a high capacity magazine;
5. Improper storage of firearms in a vehicle; and
6. Conspiracy to commit a crime.

All but the juvenile, who was released to parental custody, were being held on a $100,000 bail at the Billerica House of Correction, police said. Since an investigation is ongoing, including the search of the two vehicles they were traveling in, additional charges are possible.