Cops see a lot of crazy things in their line of work but never thought a routine traffic stop would lead to a wide-scale manhunt for an 11 man extremist group. The incident took place over on a Maine highway after they pulled them over & they refused to comply with the officer’s requests. The men are believed to be a part of an armed militia known as the rise of the moors which has become notorious over the years for the fact that they do not recognize the laws of our great nation. It is not known what exactly prompted it but at some point during the traffic stop at 1:30 in the morning, they tried to flee into the woods to avoid arrest. In response, the cops were forced to shut down I 95 & stage an all-out manhunt for the suspects in an effort to apprehend the lawbreakers. As the hunt went on, they issued a statement to the locals urging them to stay indoors as the men are believed to be both armed & dangerous.
The hunt lasted for about 9 hours as most of the suspects were apprehended shortly before daybreak. The two remaining men continued to flee until being caught around 10:30. As they brought them in, the reports found that 2 of the suspects needed to seek medical care but this is not related to the stand-off they had with the cops. They are part of a group that seeks to spread anarchy across the US & the SPLC has said they are one of the more dangerous groups out there. According to reports, they think they are the rightful rulers of the federal government as well as the state. During the manhunt, the men did not make any demands; they just kept trying to get away from the cops. After they were caught the authorities turned the forest upside down to make sure they had not hidden a weapons stash anywhere. Reports say that the men were on their way from RI to Maine to conduct training although it does not specify what exactly that would entail.
They found that the men had posted a video known as rising of the Moors to their Youtube account early that morning. In it, they can be seen waving around a Moroccan flag as they walk past a lot of cars on the shoulder of the highway. They even found one video where one of the men claims they are not anti-police or anti-government. They also claim not to be violent extremists & say they have not broken any laws. He went on to say that the cops spotted them on the side of the road with their guns holstered & this is what made them scared. This is presumably why they bolted off into the woods. He claims he has a body cam that recorded the whole thing & they told the cops they were abiding by the laws the entire time. As such, he thinks it is unfair that they are being labeled as anti-government. There is no word yet on what charges they face but it seems they may now be looking at anywhere from 25 to life.
