As the website of the purported “Moorish American National Government” informs visitors that 11 U.S. mayors “have issued official proclamations in recognition of Moorish American Week,” the mayor of Fayetteville, N.C., tells the Fayetteville Observer that he is withdrawing the proclamation he approved.
An obscure group called “Moorish Americans” has “attempted to file court documents claiming sovereignty from the U.S.,” the newspaper reports.
On a page of its website, the Moorish American National Government publishes a “Proclamation Of Status And Jurisdiction Of The Moorish Americans.”
“In the course of human events,” the Moorish proclamation begins, “The Founding Fathers of The United States brought forth on this Continent two new Nations. One, themselves, a conglomerate of Pale Skin Descendants from the Nations of Europe.
“The other Nation,” the proclamation continues, “a Comity of Olive Skin Nationals extracted from various Countries affixed indigenously to the North Western and South Western Shores of Africa, yet latent in slavery. Now, in the plan of Universal Justice, it has become necessary for the latter, standing in their Proper Person, to proclaim their true Free National Status, thus dissolving the political bands and assumable jurisdictions of the former.” (Emphasis added.)
Among the claims made by “Moorish Americans” in the proclamation approved by Fayetteville and other cities was that the Moorish had “formed a sovereign Theocratic Government.”
‘Moorish’-Related Litigation
The PP Blog used “justia moorish” — without the quotes — in a Google search. (Justia.com is a resource that publishes court filings and judicial rulings.) The Google search returned several references to litigation in which “Moorish” was a term in case stylings.
As one example, this Justia page shows a ruling in the Northern District of Illinois in which a federal judge weighed the confusing issues in a lawsuit by an entity known as the Moorish Science Temple of America against the city of Berwyn, Ill. As another example, this Justia page refers to a case filed in New Jersey federal court on Dec. 21, 2011.
That case references the “MOORISH SCIENCE TEMPLE OF AMERICA 4TH & 5TH GENERATION and ATTORNEYS IN FACT ON BEHALF OF THE ESTATE OF CHESTER R. JENKINS, JR.” as plaintiffs, with the defendants listed as “SUPERIOR COURT OF NEW JERSEY, JOHN DOE, CHARLES M. RAND and MAUREEN B. MANTINEO.”
No case filing is accessible through the Justia link.
A ruling in a different case in Wisconsin federal court is available through this Justia link. The case is styled “Anchorbank FSB v. Moorish Science Temple of America.”
Meanwhile, a ruling in a case in which Soloman Seales Jr. is listed as the plaintiff and “Branch Moorish Science Temple and Unknown Gerard” are listed as the defendants is available through this Justia.com link. That case was filed in Missouri federal court, and Seales is described as a “prisoner” who brought the action against the Moorish entity.
Separately, the Charlotte Criminal Lawyer Blog reported in July 2011 that a “Moorish Nation” Defense is clogging up the court system in Mecklenburg County, N.C. Charlotte, a famous American city, is the county seat of Mecklenburg County.
From the Blog:
“The details of this strategy vary throughout the nation, but the underlying theory is that a defendant is of Moorish decent, and is not subject to the laws of the United States,” wrote attorney Brad Smith. “According to the Mecklenburg County version, the defendant takes on a new name, and declares that he cannot be prosecuted for any crimes which occurred under his prior name.”
The “Moorish Defense,” Smith wrote, “is nothing more than a scam” that may cause harm to defendants accused of crimes.
Visit the website of the Southern Poverty Law Center to acquaint yourself with some of the strangeness associated with purported “Moorish Americans” who are gaining a toehold among some people of African descent while Moorish adherents engage in behavior similar to adherents of the “sovereign citizen” movement.
Although the “sovereign citizen” movement was largely white and has racist roots, those “roots have been virtually forgotten by increasing numbers of black Americans who have melded it with selective interpretations of the teachings of pioneer black nationalist Noble Drew Ali, who founded the exclusively black Moorish Science Temple of America (MSTA) almost 100 years ago,” SPLC reports.
Strange ‘Sovereign’ Event In Pennsylvania
The Allentown (Pa.) Morning Call is reporting that a New Jersey man was arrested this week on charges of indecent exposure, open lewdness, public drunkenness and disorderly conduct.
After police stopped the man amid reports he had urinated in front of a 7-Eleven convenience store at 3:05 a.m. on Feb. 16, the man allegedly declared his purported sovereignty and told an officer to “kiss” something, the newspaper reported.
Read the Morning Call story on what the man allegedly told police.