Jamhal Latimer and Steven Anthony Perez found guilty – NECN

Two men who claim to be part of a group called Rise of the Moors have been found guilty in connection with a lengthy armed standoff near Interstate 95 in Wakefield, Mass., in 2021, the Middlesex district attorney’s office said Friday.

Jamhal Latimer was convicted of multiple gun charges, including unlawful possession of a high-capacity weapon, unlawful possession of a rifle or shotgun 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 using or wearing body armor during a felony, authorities said in a statement Friday.

“The defendants in this case disrupted several communities and endangered the safety of many residents traveling or planning to travel on a busy July 4th weekend,” said District Attorney Marian Ryan. “Both Jamhal Tavon Sanders Latimer and Steven Anthony Perez demonstrated a disregard for our laws and disobeyed the directives of multiple law enforcement agencies on the scene.”

Both men are due to be sentenced next month.

Armed members of Rise of the Moors were arrested after a standoff that shut down I-95 and prompted a shelter in place.

On July 3, 2021, authorities say Latimer and Perez and two of their cars were found by state police in the emergency lane of I-95 in Wakefield wearing military-style camouflage clothing and body armor.

Latimer was armed with a high-capacity AR-style rifle and falsely claimed to be the leader of an armed militia in Rhode Island, the district attorney’s office said, and that they were headed to Maine to “train.”

Latimer and Perez were with nine other people, according to police, whom Latimer referred to as “his people.”

Two of the people were also carrying loaded, high-capacity AR-style weapons with high-capacity magazines, authorities said.

Body footage recorded at the scene of a standoff with Rise of the Moors was presented in court on Friday.

Police then asked the men for their driver’s licenses and firearms, and they said they did not have them, according to police.

When officers asked Latimer and Perez to put down their weapons, they refused, authorities said.

At one point, police say several of the men took off into the woods with their firearms, prompting the standoff. 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 were licensed to carry weapons.

The group’s website describes them as “Moorish Americans dedicated to educating new Moors and influencing our elders.”