Moorish "Sovereign Citizens" Gun Range Showdown in Rural Maryland
$350,000 Tab for Moorish American Byron Bell, Self-Proclaimed “Morocco Consular Court at the Maryland State Republic”
In a culture and society teeming with various and varying ideologies, it’s important to be aware of ideas that underlie everyday incidents. For example, the takeover of a gun range by Moorish Americans in Maryland; in a small Charles County community named Welcome. Here’s what happened and how it relates to urban apologetics.
The 2019 stats of the small town located in Charles County, Maryland, boasted of a population of just over 1000 people. In December of last year, it was descended upon by Moorish Americans who claimed to have justifiable possession of land although not formally owned by them. The small town of Welcome, MD, found themselves host to guests who proved to be … not-so-welcome after all.
According to the Washington Post in its article titled “Moorish Americans take over a rural gun range, sparking a strange showdown”, the precursor to this incident involved the formation of a gun range on a residential property:
“The episode began when gun enthusiasts started getting together on Sundays for target practice at the wooded property of 64-yr-old Byron Bell.”
After multiple of these get-togethers, neighbors complained regarding the caliber and number of rounds discharged by weapons, not to mention the incremental number of attendees, noise, and risk of traveling bullets. County officials eventually took action. They deemed Bell’s property unlawful as a firing range site; effectively shutting it down.
ENTER: the self-proclaimed consul general of the “Morocco Consular Court at the Maryland State Republic” Lamont Maurice El; a Moorish American claiming sovereign citizenship in the United States.
As an attendee of the weekly gun range shooting events, the action taken by county officials proved to be unacceptable, prompting him (along with other Moorish Americans) to “take over” the gun range.
Born as Lamont Maurice Butler, Butler submitted documents to county officials contending that Bell’s property fell under the jurisdiction of an 1836 treaty between Morocco and the United States, thus entitling him to its ownership as a sovereign citizen. He maintained that the county’s actions (although backed by county regulations) held no sway on the matter, and in defiance the range was reopened on his Moroccan authority.
Not new to this type of insistent proprietorship, nearly ten years prior Butler had involvement with police after he entered a 12-bedroom suite mansion, also in Maryland, claiming ownership by way of his sovereign citizen status.
In several instances the Washington Post (WaPo) equated Moorish Americans with Moorish sovereign citizens. This coupling is troublesome; because it’s incorrect. According to “A QUICK GUIDE TO SOVEREIGN CITIZENS” by the University of North Carolina School of Government,
“Sovereign citizen” is a catchall phrase referring to a variety of anti-government individuals and groups who share some common beliefs and behaviors. [. . .] In one way or another, though, all sovereign citizens, whether tied to an organization or not, adhere to a view that the existing American governmental structure, including the courts and law enforcement, is illegitimate and that they, the sovereign citizens, retain an individual common law identity exempting them from the authority of those fraudulent government institutions. Sovereign citizens may issue their own driver’s licenses and vehicle tags, create and file their own liens against government officials who cross them, question judges about the validity of their oaths, challenge the applicability of traffic laws to them and, in extreme cases, resort to violence to protect their imagined rights.
While there are some Moorish Americans who claim to possess sovereign citizenship, to mark all Moorish American as sovereign citizens is a huge mischaracterization.
Case in point, The Moorish Science Temple of America - comprised of self-declared Moorish Americans - adamantly rejects any and all association with the sovereign citizen movement. The WaPo would do well to know… that the two aren’t the same.
What, then, is the Moorish Science Temple of America? Here’s a brief background for you to gain some understanding and awareness about these specific “Moorish Americans”.
Moorish Science Temple of America
The group now known as the Moorish Science Temple of America was founded in 1913 in Newark, New Jersey. The founder, Drew Ali, was born in the state of North Carolina as Timothy Drew (1886-1929). As an organization, the Moorish Temple of Science was officially established in the State of Illinois in 1926. Undergoing a slew of name changes, in 1928 the organization was named what it’s familiarly known as today: The Moorish Science Temple of America (MSTA).
Drew established an ideology encompassing a version of Islam that was significantly different from orthodox Islam, yet continues today. Bestowing upon himself the virtue of “noble”, Ali’s ideas spread quickly and widely through urban centers in America as he became known to his followers as Noble Drew Ali, the final Prophet of Allah.
An excerpt from Chapter XLVIII (The End Of Time And The Fulfilling Of The Prophesies) of The Holy Koran of the Moorish Science Temple of America, reads:
“The last Prophet in these days is Noble Drew Ali, who was prepared divinely in due time by Allah to redeem men from their sinful ways; and to warn them of the great wrath which is sure to come upon the earth”.
Individuals belonging to the MSTA claim a national identity as “Moorish American” and a religious identity as Moslem, adhering to a form of Islamism. The ideology teaches that all black people descend from the Moors but had their identity and religion confiscated via slavery and racial segregation. Moors refer to [black] Muslims who migrated from Asia and settled in the north African region we call Morocco today. As a show of discarding their slave name and regaining their proper identity, adherents of the ideology replace their surname with “El” or “Bey”.
The importance of claiming this identity by declaration is adamantly stressed, along with adherence to the sacred text penned by Noble Drew Ali himself, titled: The Holy Koran of the Moorish Science Temple of America (also called The Circle 7 Koran).
Attested to be revealed by Allah, this text comprised of forty-eight chapters closes with the following:
6. We, as a clean and pure nation descended from the inhabitants of Africa, do not desire to amalgamate or marry into the families of the pale skin nations of Europe. Neither serve the gods of their religion, because our forefathers are the true and divine founders of the first religious creed, for the redemption and salvation of mankind on earth.
7. Therefore we are returning the Church and Christianity back to the European Nations, as it was prepared by their forefathers for their earthly salvation.
8. While we, the Moorish Americans are returning to Islam, which was founded by our forefathers for our earthly and divine salvation.
9. The covenant of the great God-Allah: "Honor they father and they mother that thy days may be longer upon the earth land, which the Lord thy God, Allah hath given thee!"
10. Come all ye Asiatics of America and hear the truth about your nationality and birthrights, because you are not negroes. Learn of your forefathers ancient and divine Creed. That you will learn to love instead of hate.
11. We are trying to uplift fallen humanity. Come and link yourselves with the families of nations. We honor all the true and divine prophets.
Ali advocated that black people unite to return to the religion of their forefathers. As they incorporated the rituals and practices found with the sacred text, this act of unity would redeem them from racial oppression and furthermore reclaim their historical spiritual heritage.
The ideology is not new, as if it just arrived in the 21st century. Charles County court documents according to the WaPo reported that the gun range owner, Bell, had declared himself to be a Moorish American relatively recently. He admitted he was still grappling with understanding the doctrine that coincided with his declaration.
Bell presumed that his declaration as Moorish American granted him immunity from any legal action taken by the county; thus the order shutting down his gun range was ignored. Likewise, he presumed that the court documents addressing him by his given name and surname - instead of by his Moorish name - didn’t apply to him; thus the court directed order for him to appear in court was also ignored.
By the end of the ordeal, these faulty presumptions left Bell with a $350,000 court sanction, potential further legal troubles, and a warrant for the seizure of his firearms and computer.
Bell acknowledged (according to WaPo) what those in the sovereign citizen movement do not: “You got to follow the rules”.
Learn more about the Moors and a similar incident in this livestream here: