Move bomb philadelphia

On May 13,the Philadelphia Police Department dropped a C-4 bomb on the home of the MOVE organization, move bomb philadelphia, killing eleven people — including five children — and wiping move bomb philadelphia 61 homes in two city blocks. Socially and environmentally focused, MOVE members attended protests and supported animal rights, environmental justice, and racial justice since its founding. In Philadelphia, because of their loud and visible radical presence, they were targets for police harassment, raids, and arrests — including a violent home invasion inwhich Mike Africa Jr.

The police bombing of Osage Avenue, in Philadelphia, caused a level of trauma that is difficult to exaggerate. After firing thousands of rounds of ammunition and cannisters of noxious tear gas into the home, they flew a helicopter over the roof and dropped a package of military-grade explosives. What followed was unimaginable. That would have been bad enough. But what made this a trauma from which the city could not heal was that the bodies of the six Black men and women and five Black children lay under the smoldering embers of that row house—eleven human beings whom police had known were inside when they had dropped incendiary devices.

Move bomb philadelphia

An oral history of a police bombing that changed the city forever. As the smoke rose from Osage Avenue, Philadelphia residents watched through their windows or television screens in a state of stunned disbelief. Their city had just bombed its own people. On the evening of May 13, , longstanding tensions between MOVE, a black liberation group, and the Philadelphia Police Department erupted horrifically. That night, the city of Philadelphia dropped a satchel bomb, a demolition device typically used in combat, laced with Tovex and C-4 explosives on the MOVE organization, who were living in a West Philadelphia rowhome known to be occupied by men, women, and children. It went up in unextinguished flames. Eleven people were killed, including five children and the founder of the organization. Sixty-one homes were destroyed, and more than citizens were left homeless. For the next several years, the confrontation with MOVE would be remembered as an ordeal that transformed the fabric of the city. In my opinion, everyone who was an adult in the city failed that day MOVE, not an acronym, was a political and religious organization whose principles were anti-government, anti-technology, and anti-corporation. Its creator, John Africa, born Vincent Leaphart, was a West Philadelphia native and Korean War veteran whose ideology combined black revolutionary ideas with environmental and animal rights, as well as a back-to-nature movement. MOVE was founded in and still exists today , though its membership numbers are unknown.

In addition to files organized by relevant city department or other source, the PSIC created computerized lists illustrating the roles and interactions of every policeman, fireman, city official and community resident, computerized grids showing who attended each of the many meetings held before May 13, and indexes to testimony. Only two people survived the bombing — Ramona Africa, then 29, and a child, Birdie Africa, move bomb philadelphia, then 13, later known move bomb philadelphia Michael Moses Ward; both were badly burned.

In , some of the MOVE members who had escaped incarceration following the shootout with Philadelphia police in Powelton Village, settled into a rowhouse at Osage Avenue, where they broadcasted demands to the city through a loudspeaker day and night. Complaints voiced by neighborhood residents were tabled at City Hall, even as MOVE members constructed an armed barricade on the roof of the house. On May 13, , the eviction process went awry, resulting in a day-long gun battle between MOVE and city police. In the early evening, a satchel bomb dropped from a police helicopter onto the barricade ignited a fire that the fire department failed to control. This activity outraged their largely middle-class African American neighbors, whose complaints were heard but tabled by high-level city officials, including Mayor W.

This guide was created in late Spring as a response to and resource for processing the nationwide George Floyd Protests. These protests aim to shine a light on the continued oppression experienced by Black Americans and in particular the effects of police brutality on this population. The hope is that this guide can be both used for personal education as well as providing a centralized resource for the Brandywine community who wish to address these topics in their teaching and learning. This guide contains historical information regarding oppression of African Americans and the systemic presence of White Supremacy, sources to stay up to date on contemporaneous news and analysis, and resources to support Anti-Racism. We welcome suggestions for any additional resources or topics you would like to see covered in this guide. This guide is broken into three areas with subtopics in each. Below is a brief description of the type of resources in each section.

Move bomb philadelphia

If you're a human and see this, please ignore it. If you're a scraper, please click the link below :- Note that clicking the link below will block access to this site for 24 hours. The neighbors were fed up. The cops had warrants. And the members of the MOVE organization had barricaded themselves inside.

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When the explosion went off, it shook the ground. Richmond: once the fire had begun, Richmond said, the police commissioner, Gregore Sambor, instructed him to let it burn. Future Perfect We have treatments for opioid addiction that work. When MOVE refused to leave, the police chose to react with force and deadly violence. Learn more in this April 21, article from Billy Penn , quoted here:. By this time, p. The police claimed that, when they dropped the bomb on Osage, they simply wanted to dislodge a bunker on the roof. In the early evening, a satchel bomb dropped from a police helicopter onto the barricade ignited a fire that the fire department failed to control. Archived from the original on May 7, They were all crying. Finally spurred by the appeal to the governor, Mayor Goode requested a tactical plan for removing the occupants of Osage.

An oral history of a police bombing that changed the city forever. As the smoke rose from Osage Avenue, Philadelphia residents watched through their windows or television screens in a state of stunned disbelief. Their city had just bombed its own people.

By this time, p. Frank Powell , retired Philadelphia police lieutenant, known for dropping the bomb in interview with the Philadelphia Inquirer : The bunker was not destroyed. And the air was growing thick with smoke. CBS News. She had not been permitted to speak to Birdie, yet she told investigators the same story that he had. The police claimed that, when they dropped the bomb on Osage, they simply wanted to dislodge a bunker on the roof. Tools Tools. Mimms Rizzo v. Pretty quickly, it got smokier and smokier. April 21, They told us it was an investigation of the MOVE people on the block over and we could come back later. It wasn't until that the city acknowledged the bombing was not an accident and it was a homicide. Paul Nussbaum, Thomas J. The fire began milliseconds after the bomb blast when friction-heated metal fragments penetrated a gas can on the roof and ignited gasoline vapors.