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Nine people in a “heavily armed” group which “does not recognize our laws” were arrested early Saturday after a standoff with state police in Massachusetts which shut down I-95, according to reports.

“We have several armed persons accounted for at this scene on Rt 95. They are refusing to comply with orders to provide their information and put down their weapons,” the Massachusetts State Police said on Twitter.

Shelter-in-place orders were issued in the communities of Wakefield and Reading, just north of Boston, during the ordeal, NBC 10 reported.

A state trooper found the men in a breakdown lane on the side of the interstate refueling their vehicles around 1:30 a.m. Massachusetts State Police Colonel Christopher Mason told reporters. The occupants of the vehicle were dressed in military-style tactical gear. Some had long rifles, some side pistols, he said, according to reports.

“We were afraid so we got out with our arms,” one man allegedly from the group, called Rise of the Moors, said in a YouTube video, while dressed in what appeared to be combat gear.The men are allegedly from a fringe group called “Rise of the Moors.”

The nature of the group is unclear as police continue to investigate.

“We’re not anti-government, we’re not anti-police. We’re not sovereign citizens, we’re not black identity extremists,” the man in the video said. “We haven’t violated any laws.”

The men claim “to be from a group that does not recognize our laws,” the Wakefield Police Department said in a statement. “No threats were made, but these men should be considered armed and dangerous.”

The standoff shutdown a section of Interstate 95 near Wakefield, Mass.

The FBI Boston Division told reporters it is “fully engaged” with its state and local partners, but said it had no further comment on the situation given that it is still ongoing.

By 10:30 a.m., state police said it had arrested nine people and were conducting searches of their vehicles and the nearby woods.

Long overdue books returned to Massachusetts library

A Massachusetts man has returned long overdue books that were checked out
in the 1920s and 1930s to the Somerville Public Library.

Bob Alvarez, 63, found the books in the basement of his Methuen home in a
wooden box, The Boston Globe reported on Thursday.

The books were stored in a wooden box in the attic of the family’s Somerville
home until it was sold in 2010. Alvarez moved the box and other items into his
basement and never examined the contents until June.

The books belonged to his late aunt, Helen Godimis, who died in 1937 at the
age of 16 from the flu, the newspaper reported.

She left behind 39 books. Some of them were from Somerville schools, some
from the library and others were apparently from his aunt’s personal collection.
The oldest books had copyrights from the 19th century.

When he found the books, Alvarez contacted the library, saying “I’ve got some
overdue books, am I talking to the right people?”

Alvarez will not be charged late fees as the library stopped charging the fees
as of July 1.

Some of the returned books are currently on display at the West Branch of the
library with a note explaining how the books made their way back decades after
they were checked out.