Friday, April 26, 2013

MOVE - Funny How Americans Think They Are Free

MOVE - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

'via Blog this'

(If you are different, at all, you WILL be shut down. Shut up and by shit. If you don't like it, go on Prozac.) MOVE or the MOVE Organization is a Philadelphia-based black liberation group founded by John Africa. MOVE was described by CNN as "a loose-knit, mostly black group whose members all adopted the surname Africa, advocated a "back-to-nature" lifestyle and preached against technology."[1] In addition, MOVE members were vegans and passionate supporters of animal rights. The group livedcommunally and frequently engaged in public demonstrations related to issues they deemed important.
Since their founding in 1972, their actions attracted the attention of the Philadelphia Police Department. A major incident occurred in 1978, when the police raided their Powelton Village home. This raid resulted in the death of one police officer and the imprisonment of nine group members, now known as "The MOVE 9." After this, the group relocated further west to a house at 6221 Osage Ave.
In 1985, the group made national news when police dropped a bomb on the Osage house from a helicopter in an attempt to end an armed impasse. The explosion killed 11 people, including five children and the group's leader, John Africa. Only two occupants survived, Ramona, an adult and Birdie, a child. In addition, 65 homes were destroyed as the entire block burned.[2]


MOVE was founded in 1972 as the "Christian Movement for Life" by John Africa, a charismatic leaderwho, though functionally illiterate, dictated a document describing his views known as The Guidelineto community college professor Donald Glassey. Africa and his followers (the majority of themAfrican-American), wore their hair in dreadlocks and advocated a radical form of green politics and a return to hunter-gatherer society while stating their opposition to science, medicine and technology. As John Africa himself had done, his devotees also changed their surnames to show reverence toAfrica, which they regarded as their mother continent.[3]
The MOVE members lived in a commune in a house owned by Donald Glassey in the Powelton Villagesection of West Philadelphia. MOVE members staged bullhorn-amplified, profanity-laceddemonstrations against institutions which they opposed morally, such as zoos (MOVE had strong views on animal rights), and speakers whose views they opposed. MOVE made compost piles of garbage and human waste in their yards which attracted rats and cockroaches; they considered it morally wrong to kill the vermin with pest control. MOVE attracted much hostility from their neighbors. Their actions brought close scrutiny from the Philadelphia police.[3]

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(Okay, well that's gross, but not worth throwing a grenade at a nine year old over or anything.)

1978 shoot-out

On August 8, 1978, an end was negotiated to an almost year-long standoff with police over orders to vacate the Powelton Village MOVE house. MOVE failed to relocate as required by a court order.[4]When police later attempted entry, Philadelphia police officer James J. Ramp was killed by a shot to the back of the head. MOVE representatives claim that he was facing the house at the time, which would therefore negate the notion that MOVE was responsible for his death. Seven other police officers, five firefighters, three MOVE members, and three bystanders were injured in an unrelated crossfire.[5] As a result, nine MOVE members were found guilty of third-degree murder in the shooting death of a police officer. Seven of the nine became eligible for parole in the spring of 2008, and all seven were denied parole.[6][7] Parole hearings now occur yearly. Following the 1978 shoot-out the MOVE house was immediately razed to spite a court order against its destruction as well as the fact of it being a crime scene by the city on the orders of mayor Frank L. Rizzo. This destroyed any and all defense evidence.[citation needed]


(So, this was like a black commune? But in the middle of a city, not the country?)

1985 bombing

In 1981, MOVE relocated to a row house at 6221 Osage Avenue in the Cobbs Creek area of West Philadelphia. On May 13, 1985, after months of complaints by neighbors that MOVE members were broadcasting political messages by bullhorn at all hours and also about the health hazards created from piles of compost, as well as indictments of various MOVE members for crimes including parole violation, contempt of court, illegal possession of firearms, and making terrorist threats[8] The police department attempted to clear the building and arrest the indicted MOVE members, which led to an armed standoff with police.[9] The police lobbed tear gas canisters at the building and the fire department battered on the roof of the house with two water cannons. MOVE members fired at the police, and the police returned fire with semiautomatic weapons.[10] The house was heavily fortified with old telephone poles lining the interior walls and a bunker was built on the roof.[citation needed] A police helicopter then dropped two one-pound bombs made of Water gel explosive, a dynamitesubstitute, targeting fortified, bunker-like cubicle on the roof of the house.[11]
The resulting fire ignited a massive blaze which eventually destroyed 65 houses nearby.[2][12][11]Eleven people, including John Africa, five other adults and five children, died in the resulting fire.[13]The firefighters were stopped from putting out the fire based on allegations that firefighters were being shot at, a claim that was contested by the lone adult survivor Ramona Africa, who says that the firefighters had earlier battered the house with two deluge pumps when there was no fire.[12]Ramona Africa and one child, Birdie Africa, were the only two survivors. Police shot at those trying to escape the house[14] and acknowledge firing over 10,000 rounds.[15]


(They shot at a little kid? Dicks.)

Aftermath

Mayor W. Wilson Goode soon appointed an investigative commission called the PSIC or MOVE commission. It 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."[16] No one from the city government was charged criminally.


(Of course not. Cops are above the law and always have been.)

In a 1996 civil suit in US federal court, a jury ordered the City of Philadelphia to pay $1.5 million to a survivor and relatives of two people killed in the incident. The jury found that the city used excessive force and violated the members' constitutional protection against unreasonable search and seizure.[13] Philadelphia was given the sobriquet "The City that Bombed Itself."[17][18]
On the 25th Anniversary of the 1985 Police bombing, the Philadelphia Inquirer created a detailed multimedia site containing retrospective articles, archived articles, videos, interviews, photos, and a timeline of the events.[19]

References in music

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