A group of breakaway members of the Amish community are suspected of forcibly cutting the hair and beards of Amish men and women, the Associated Press reported.
Led by the aptly named Sam Mullet, the group is accused of at least half a dozen attacks in and around Holmes County, Ohio, in September and October.
The suspects were arrested in a dawn raid at their compound near the Bergholz village, reported the Ohio News Network, and were due to be arraigned later on Wednesday.
They have been charged with carrying out "religiously motivated physical assaults" and causing injury by use of a dangerous weapon, said the BBC.
Mullet is said to be the head of a splinter settlement estranged from nearby Amish communities, and resentful of what he perceived to be their persecution of his group.
He and his followers allegedly intended the unwanted haircuts as an act of protest against their fellow Amish, for whom the cutting of hair and beards is strictly proscribed.
Follow us: