man busted for phony license plate says he is Moorish Emir and does not have to obey state law
The license plate on Bay's Ford was not at all an officials New York State plate, police said.
Posted at 2:30 p.m. on Aug. 5
A Far Rockaway man stopped by police for not having a valid license plate on his 2001 Ford told the officers that he is a Moorish Emir and did not need the permission of New York State to drive a vehicle in the United States. He was promptly arrested and his car impounded.
Court papers provided by Queens District Attorney Richard Brown identify the man as Ben Bay, 49, known in the real world as Ben Stevens Jr.
According to the court papers, Police officer Jamaal Arthur, assigned to the 101 Precinct in Far Rockaway, spotted Bay driving at the intersection of Aztec Plan and Far Rockaway Boulevard at about noon on July 8.
Arthur said in his deposition that he noticed a strange license plate on the Ford. He stopped Bay and asked him why he had a home-made plate on the car.
“I am an emir and I don’t need plates to drive,” he told Arthur.
The cop requested a license and proof of insurance, but Bay had neither. There was no inspection sticker nor registration sticker on the windshield as provided for by law.
PO Arthur did a check on Bay’s driving record and found that his license has been suspended 166 times on 33 dates, the last one being June 23, 2000.
Bay told the cop his real name, but added that he changed it when he joined the Moorish Nation Ancient Moabite.
According to Wikipedia, The Moorish Science Temple of America is an American national and religious organization founded by Timothy Drew. He based it on the belief that African Americans were descended from the Moors of North West Africa and thus were Moorish by nationality and Islamic by faith.
Drew put together elements of major traditions to develop a message of personal transformation through historical education, racial pride and spiritual upliftment. It also intended to provide African Americans with a sense of identity in the world and promote civic involvement. One primary tenet of the Moorish Science Temple is the belief that African-Americans are of Moorish ancestry, specifically from "Moroccan Empire" which, according to Drew, included other countries that surround Morocco today. To join the movement, individuals had to proclaim their "Moorish nationality", were giving "nationality cards" and in religious texts, adherents refer to themselves racially as "Asiatics".
In addition, it says, a Moorish American is a descendant of the Ancient Moabites who inhabited the land of Canaan and are legitimized in the Koran.
One of the tenants of the group is that they have no allegiance to local laws and do not have to obey those laws, apparently including those that involve driving regulations.
Bay was charged with aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle, driving without a proper inspection, driving without insurance and driving by an unlicensed operator
The license plate on Bay's Ford was not at all an officials New York State plate, police said.
Posted at 2:30 p.m. on Aug. 5
A Far Rockaway man stopped by police for not having a valid license plate on his 2001 Ford told the officers that he is a Moorish Emir and did not need the permission of New York State to drive a vehicle in the United States. He was promptly arrested and his car impounded.
Court papers provided by Queens District Attorney Richard Brown identify the man as Ben Bay, 49, known in the real world as Ben Stevens Jr.
According to the court papers, Police officer Jamaal Arthur, assigned to the 101 Precinct in Far Rockaway, spotted Bay driving at the intersection of Aztec Plan and Far Rockaway Boulevard at about noon on July 8.
Arthur said in his deposition that he noticed a strange license plate on the Ford. He stopped Bay and asked him why he had a home-made plate on the car.
“I am an emir and I don’t need plates to drive,” he told Arthur.
The cop requested a license and proof of insurance, but Bay had neither. There was no inspection sticker nor registration sticker on the windshield as provided for by law.
PO Arthur did a check on Bay’s driving record and found that his license has been suspended 166 times on 33 dates, the last one being June 23, 2000.
Bay told the cop his real name, but added that he changed it when he joined the Moorish Nation Ancient Moabite.
According to Wikipedia, The Moorish Science Temple of America is an American national and religious organization founded by Timothy Drew. He based it on the belief that African Americans were descended from the Moors of North West Africa and thus were Moorish by nationality and Islamic by faith.
Drew put together elements of major traditions to develop a message of personal transformation through historical education, racial pride and spiritual upliftment. It also intended to provide African Americans with a sense of identity in the world and promote civic involvement. One primary tenet of the Moorish Science Temple is the belief that African-Americans are of Moorish ancestry, specifically from "Moroccan Empire" which, according to Drew, included other countries that surround Morocco today. To join the movement, individuals had to proclaim their "Moorish nationality", were giving "nationality cards" and in religious texts, adherents refer to themselves racially as "Asiatics".
In addition, it says, a Moorish American is a descendant of the Ancient Moabites who inhabited the land of Canaan and are legitimized in the Koran.
One of the tenants of the group is that they have no allegiance to local laws and do not have to obey those laws, apparently including those that involve driving regulations.
Bay was charged with aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle, driving without a proper inspection, driving without insurance and driving by an unlicensed operator
