'Timestamp on our minds': Philadelphia marks 1985 Move bombing that killed 11

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/may/13/philadelphia-1985-move-bombing

‘Timestamp on our minds’: Philadelphia marks 1985 Move bombing that killed 11

Police bombing targeting Black liberation group ignited fire that killed 11, including five children, and burned 61 houses

Ed Pilkington
Tue 13 May 2025 07.00 EDT

Philadelphia is holding an official day of remembrance on Tuesday marking the moment 40 years earlier when the city’s police department dropped a bomb on the headquarters of a Black liberation organisation, sparking an inferno that killed 11 people – including five children.

The police bombing of the home of the Move organization on 13 May 1985 was one of the worst atrocities carried out during the era of the 1970s and 1980s Black liberation struggle. It followed a prolonged siege in which the notoriously brutal Philadelphia police attempted to drive the group out of its premises at 6221 Osage Avenue.

Officers pummeled the house with more than 10,000 rounds of ammunition over a 90-minute period, even though children were known to be inside. When that failed to dislodge the Move activists, authorities ordered a police helicopter to drop an incendiary bomb made from C4 plastic explosives on to the roof of the house.

A fire was ignited and allowed to rage, killing all 11 people and turning to cinder 61 houses in the mainly Black neighborhood. About 250 people were left homeless.

Five children aged seven to 13 died in the inferno. They were named Tree, Netta, Deleisha, Little Phil and Tomasa.

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