41 years ago today, the City of Philadelphia dropped a bomb on its own residents.
Not a figure of speech. An actual bomb. Built from C4 explosive supplied by the FBI and dropped from a helicopter onto a row house in West Philadelphia. The resulting fire was allowed to burn. When it was finally over, 11 people were dead, including 6 children. 61 homes had burned to the ground. 250 people — most of them neighbors with no connection to any dispute — were suddenly homeless.
The group that lived in the house was called MOVE. You can have a lot of opinions about MOVE. But the children who died in that house had no say in any of it.
Not a single city official was ever charged with a crime. The one person who was prosecuted and sent to prison was a survivor.
The neighborhood still hasn't fully recovered. Some of the families are still waiting for answers.
In April 2021, it was revealed that anthropologists at Princeton and the University of Pennsylvania had the bones of one of the children, unbeknownst to the families.
Reminder: We're here for the history. Comments that devolve into political arguments or hate will be deleted. Stay curious, stay respectful.