Editing MOVE (Philadelphia organization) (section)

== 1985 bombing ==
{{main|1985 MOVE bombing}}
{{Location map|Philadelphia
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|caption    = Location of the MOVE house, bombed in 1985 by the police, within Philadelphia
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|label      = 6221 Osage Ave
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|lat_deg    = 39.955679  
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In 1981, MOVE relocated to a row house at 6221 Osage Avenue in the [[Cobbs Creek, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania|Cobbs Creek]] area of West Philadelphia. Neighbors complained to the city for years about trash around their building, confrontations with neighbors, and bullhorn announcements of sometimes obscene political messages by MOVE members.<ref name=Trippett1/><ref name="Still Black, Still Strong">{{cite book|last1=Abu-Jamal|first1=Mumia|last2=Bin Wahad|first2=Dhoruba|last3=Shakur|first3=Assata|title=Still Black, Still Strong|date=1993|publisher=Semiotext(e)|location=South Pasadena, CA|isbn=9780936756745|page=128}}</ref> The bullhorn was broken and inoperable for the three weeks prior to the police bombing of the row house.<ref name="Still Black, Still Strong"/>

The police obtained arrest warrants in 1985 charging four MOVE occupants with crimes including parole violations, [[contempt of court]], illegal possession of firearms, and making terrorist threats.<ref name="Trippett" >{{cite magazine |last=Trippett |first=Frank |url=http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,141842,00.html |title=It Looks Just Like a War Zone |magazine=TIME |date=May 27, 1985 |access-date=May 14, 2013 |archive-date=November 10, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211110215354/http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,141842,00.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> Mayor [[Wilson Goode]] and police commissioner [[Gregore J. Sambor]] classified MOVE as a terrorist organization.<ref name=Shapiro2010>{{cite book|last1=Shapiro|first1=Michael J|title=The Time of the City: Politics, Philosophy and Genre|date=June 17, 2010|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781136977879|page=108}}</ref> Police evacuated residents of the area from the neighborhood prior to their action. Residents were told that they would be able to return to their homes after a 24-hour period.<ref name=":1"/>

On Monday, May 13, 1985, nearly five hundred police officers, along with city manager [[Leo A. Brooks, Sr.|Leo Brooks]], arrived in force and attempted to clear the building and execute the arrest warrants.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=Shapiro2010/> Nearby houses were evacuated.<ref name=":3" /> Water and electricity were shut off in order to force MOVE members out of the house. Commissioner Sambor read a long speech addressed to MOVE members that started with, "Attention MOVE: This is America. You have to abide by the laws of the United States." When the MOVE members did not respond, the police decided to forcibly remove the 13 members from the house,<ref name=":1" /> which consisted of seven adults and six children.

There was an armed standoff with police,<ref name="USAaccount"/> who lobbed [[tear gas]] canisters at the building. The MOVE members fired at them in return, and a 90-minute gunfight ensued, in which one officer was bruised in the back by gunfire.<ref name="Stevens 1985">{{cite news|last=Stevens|first=William K.|title=Police Drop Bomb on Radicals' Home in Philadelphia|url=http://www.mindfully.org/Reform/MOVE-Phihladelphia-BombNYT14may85.htm|access-date=August 31, 2012|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=May 14, 1985|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120612050152/http://www.mindfully.org/Reform/MOVE-Phihladelphia-BombNYT14may85.htm|archive-date=June 12, 2012}}</ref> Police used more than ten thousand rounds of ammunition before Commissioner Sambor ordered that the compound be bombed.<ref name="Stevens 1985"/> From a Pennsylvania State Police helicopter, Philadelphia Police Department Lt. Frank Powell proceeded to drop two one-pound bombs (which the police referred to as "entry devices"<ref name=Shapiro2010/>) made of FBI-supplied [[Tovex]], a dynamite substitute, targeting a cubicle on the roof of the house.<ref name=Trippett1/> The ensuing fire killed eleven of the people in the house (John Africa, five other adults, and five children aged 7 to 13). The fire spread and eventually destroyed approximately 65 nearby houses on Osage Avenue and nearby Pine Street. Although firefighters had earlier drenched the building prior to the bombing, after the fire broke out, officials said they feared that MOVE would shoot at the firefighters, so held them back.<ref name=Trippett1>{{cite magazine|url=http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,141842,00.html|title=It Looks Just Like a War Zone|author=Frank Trippett|date=May 27, 1985|magazine=[[TIME magazine]]|quote=The Move property on Osage Avenue had become notorious for its abundant litter of garbage and human waste and for its scurrying rats and dozens of dogs. Bullhorns blared forth obscene tirades and harangues at all times of day and night. MOVE members customarily kept their children out of both clothes and school. They physically assaulted some neighbors and threatened others.|access-date=February 15, 2009|archive-date=November 10, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211110215354/http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,141842,00.html|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="Stevens 1985"/><ref name="Brian Jenkins">{{cite news |url=http://edition.cnn.com/US/9604/02/move_court/ |title=MOVE siege returns to haunt city |author=Brian Jenkins |date=April 2, 1996 |publisher=[[CNN.com]] |access-date=August 1, 2008 |archive-date=February 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210228212635/http://edition.cnn.com/US/9604/02/move_court/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Ramona Africa, one of the two MOVE survivors from the house, said that police fired at those trying to escape.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4651126 |title=Philadelphia MOVE Bombing Still Haunts Survivors |newspaper=NPR.org |publisher=NPR |access-date=May 14, 2013 |archive-date=October 2, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211002084835/https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4651126 |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Aftermath ===
Goode appointed an investigative commission called the Philadelphia Special Investigation Commission (PSIC, aka MOVE Commission), chaired by attorney [[William H. Brown, III]]. Sambor resigned in November 1985; in a speech the following year, he said that he was made a "surrogate" by Goode.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.mcall.com/news/mc-xpm-1986-02-27-2510505-story.html|title=I WAS EXPENDABLE, SAMBOR LEARNED AFTER MOVE FIASCO|first=SCOTT J. HIGHAM, The Morning|last=Call|website=mcall.com|date=February 27, 1986|access-date=October 9, 2020|archive-date=March 27, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190327123118/https://www.mcall.com/news/mc-xpm-1986-02-27-2510505-story.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

The MOVE Commission issued its report on March 6, 1986. The report denounced the actions of the city government, stating that "Dropping a bomb on an occupied row house was unconscionable."<ref name="titlePhiladelphia Special Investigation (MOVE) Commission Manuscript Collection">{{cite web |url=http://library.temple.edu/collections/urbana/psic-01.jsp |title=Philadelphia Special Investigation (MOVE) Commission Manuscript Collection |access-date=April 12, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090111183326/http://library.temple.edu/collections/urbana/psic-01.jsp |archive-date=January 11, 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Following the release of the report, Goode made a formal public apology.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.mcall.com/news/mc-xpm-1986-03-10-2508939-story.html|title=GOODE OFFERS HIS APOLOGY FOR MOVE|first=WILLIAM K. STEVENS, The New York|last=Times|website=mcall.com|date=March 10, 1986|access-date=October 9, 2020|archive-date=September 19, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200919104030/https://www.mcall.com/news/mc-xpm-1986-03-10-2508939-story.html|url-status=live}}</ref> No one from the city government was criminally charged in the attack. The only surviving adult MOVE member, Ramona Africa, was charged and convicted on charges of [[riot]] and [[conspiracy]]; she served seven years in prison.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Odom|first1=Maida|title=Ramona Africa Given Jail Term For Siege Role|url=http://articles.philly.com/1986-04-15/news/26077019_1_ramona-africa-birdie-africa-riot-charge|website=philly.com|access-date=May 10, 2016|archive-date=June 3, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160603031312/http://articles.philly.com/1986-04-15/news/26077019_1_ramona-africa-birdie-africa-riot-charge|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In 1996 a federal jury ordered the city to pay a $1.5 million [[civil suit]] judgment to survivor Ramona Africa and relatives of two people killed in the bombing. The jury had found that the city used excessive force and violated the members' constitutional [[Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution#Warrant|protections against unreasonable search and seizure]].<ref name="NYT_1996-06-25">{{cite news |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0DEFDE1239F936A15755C0A960958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all |title=Philadelphia Held Liable For Firebomb Fatal to 11 |website=[[The New York Times]] |date=June 25, 1996 |first=Don |last=Terry |access-date=May 13, 2010 |archive-date=May 24, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210524050107/https://www.nytimes.com/1996/06/25/us/philadelphia-held-liable-for-firebomb-fatal-to-11.html |url-status=live }}</ref> In 1985 Philadelphia was given the [[sobriquet]] "The City that Bombed Itself".<ref>{{cite book|title=Compass American Guides Pennsylvania|author1=G. Shaffer |author2=C. Tiger |author3=D. L. Root |year=2008}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|url=http://www.religionnewsblog.com/11182/the-move-disaster-may-13-1985|website=[[The Philadelphia Inquirer]]|title=The MOVE Disaster: May 13, 1985|author=Larry Eichel|date=May 8, 2005|access-date=June 8, 2010|archive-date=October 14, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201014162129/https://www.religionnewsblog.com/11182/the-move-disaster-may-13-1985|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2005 federal judge [[Clarence Charles Newcomer]] presided over a civil trial brought by residents seeking damages for having been displaced by the widespread destruction following the 1985 police bombing of MOVE. A jury awarded them a $12.83 million verdict against the City of Philadelphia.<ref name="sun-sentinel2005">Douglas Martin (August 28, 2005). [https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/fl-xpm-2005-08-28-0508270080-story.html "CLARENCE NEWCOMER, 82, LONGTIME FEDERAL JUDGE,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210701020527/https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/fl-xpm-2005-08-28-0508270080-story.html |date=July 1, 2021 }} ''South Florida Sun Sentinel''.</ref>

On November 12, 2020, the City Council of Philadelphia passed a resolution apologizing "for the decisions and events preceding and leading to the devastation that occurred on May 13, 1985."<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://phila.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=4681920&GUID=B829ECBE-2918-4C0E-87B6-271DB263B6C7&Options=ID%7CText%7C&Search=MOVE|title=City of Philadelphia - File #: 200609|website=phila.legistar.com|access-date=November 16, 2020|archive-date=January 13, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210113232722/https://phila.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=4681920&GUID=B829ECBE-2918-4C0E-87B6-271DB263B6C7&Options=ID|url-status=live}}</ref> The council established "an annual day of observation, reflection and recommitment" to remember the MOVE Bombing.<ref name="auto"/>