On May 13, 1985, Philadelphia police bombed the MOVE group's home and killed 11 people — then allowed the fire to burn 61 surrounding homes to the ground.
A police helicopter flew over a residential street in West Philadelphia. The chopper circled for a few minutes before settling above a rowhouse at 6221 Osage Avenue. After a moment, two C-4 explosives dropped from the helicopter, and the rowhouse below burst into flames.
Inside the rowhouse, 11 members of the Black liberation group MOVE died horribly in the flames. MOVE co-founder John Africa was among them, and his corpse was so mangled that he couldn’t be identified for months.
Firefighters were ordered to let the fire burn. As a result, 61 homes burned, leaving 250 people homeless.
This deadly event, known as the MOVE bombing, remains one of the most violent yet often overlooked actions taken against civilians by American police. This is the story of a standoff turned deadly, following years of escalating tensions between the Philadelphia Police and a Black activist group.
https://allthatsinteresting.com/move-bombing
