Black Lives History Timeline: 1985 - The MOVE Bombing

1985: The MOVE Bombing

MOVE (it is not an acronym, according to Wikipedia) was a Black liberation group founded in Philadelphia in the early 70s by John Africa and Donald Glassey. The group had principles like the Black Panther group. They lived communally in a Townhouse in Philadelphia, and had confrontations with the police before the bombing. In 1978, they were involved in a standoff in which a police officer died. Nine members of MOVE were convicted of the officer's death. In 1985, a second major confrontation between members of MOVE and police occurred. In 1981, the group moved into a new townhouse, and immediately neighbors began filing complaints about them with the police, most of which were merely nuisance complaints, including mess and noise. In 1985, the police filed warrants against four of the members: parole violations, possession of fire arms, and terrorist threats. May 13th, nearly 500 police officers as well as city manager Leo Brooks attempted to clear the building arrest the four members using those warrants. This resulted in an armed standoff with the police. The police attempted to use teargas, which lead to a shootout between the two groups. Eventually Commissioner Sambor ordered that the building be bombed. The resulting explosion killed eleven people: John Africa, five other adults, and five children, aged seven to thirteen. No Philadelphia officials were charged in this case.

Sources: 

• Wikipedia: MOVE
• Guardian: The day police bombed a city street
• The Philadelphia Tribune: 35 years after MOVE bombing, the path to reconciliation is still unclear
• Philadelphia Inquirer: 35 years ago, Philly dropped a bomb on MOVE. It’s time to apologize
• Vox: The day Philadelphia bombed its own people
• NPR: I'm From Philly. 30 Years Later, I'm Still Trying To Make Sense Of The MOVE Bombing
• MOVE Bombing
• MOVE 101: Why, 35 years ago, Philadelphia dropped a bomb on itself

The MOVE bombing wasn't the only event of its kind. Between assassinations of Black leaders, and attacks of the US government on Black groups, there were many moments that could be pointed to, many of which I could name here. However, one of the most important was sixteen years before this. This one involved the murder of a major Black Panther leader and his followers.