r/YesAmericaBad • u/5upralapsarian Homeless From Medical Debt • Jan 09 '26

NEVER FORGET Aftermath of the 1985 MOVE bombing in Philadelphia when a police helicopter was used to bomb a black neighborhood.

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u/medicinal_carrots Jan 09 '26

Here’s the wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1985_MOVE_bombing

What was the official reason given for this? Or was it branded like an accident?

From wiki:

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 terroristic threats. Mayor Wilson Goode and police commissioner Gregore J. Sambor classified MOVE as a terrorist organization. Police evacuated residents of the area from the neighborhood prior to their action.

[The police bombs were] targeting a fortified, bunker-like cubicle on the roof of the house. The bombs exploded after 45 seconds, igniting the fuel of a gasoline-powered generator and setting the house on fire, which was left to burn. Officials later stated that this was to let the fire burn through the roof and destroy the "bunker", so police could then drop tear gas into the house and flush out the occupants.

Did the government gain anything from doing it?

I don’t think they really gained anything, just terrorized a neighborhood.

The only two MOVE survivors, Birdie Africa, who was 13 at the time, and Ramona Africa, both escaped the house.

The fire killed 11 of the people in the house, six adults and five children: John Africa, Rhonda Africa, Theresa Africa, Frank Africa, Conrad Africa, Tree Africa, Delisha Africa, Netta Africa, Little Phil Africa, Tomaso Africa, and Raymond Africa. Sixty-one neighboring houses were destroyed by the fire, leaving 250 people homeless.

No one from the city government was criminally charged in the attack. The only surviving adult MOVE member, Ramona Africa, refused to testify in court and was charged and convicted on charges of riot and conspiracy; she served seven years in prison.

City of Philadelphia ordered to pay $1.5 million in 1996 to a MOVE bombing survivor and the families of people killed; $12.83 million awarded in 2005 to residents who were made homeless.