Philadelphia has uttered a meaningless and empty apology to the survivors of the terrorist attack upon the MOVE complex on May 13, 1985. Unless all the surviving perpetrators (e.g. all the cops involved) are signing guilty pleas and accepting life sentences, those are just empty words.
Philadelphia City Council voted to formally apologize for their decision to approve a bombing, which left 11 people dead, including five children, and burned down 61 homes in 1985.
On May 13, police dropped an explosive device on the roof of 6621 Ossage Avenue in West Philadelphia after a daylong confrontation with the Black radical group, MOVE, as officers tried to evict them from their compound, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
The bomb then sparked a blaze that was left to rage by authorities until there were 11 deaths, including those of five children aged seven to 13, and 61 homes destroyed in the largely black neighborhood, according to The Guardian.
Typical of the corporate media, they continue to use loaded language that blames the victims. The item’s intro says:
On May 13, 1985, police dropped an explosive device on the roof of the compound of MOVE, a Black radical group, as officers tried to evict them, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.
The beliefs and actions of the victims are irrelevant, and use of the word “radical” is done to infer the people were a “threat” and thus their deaths “justified”. There is no justification for bombing people who are not committing criminal acts.
Philadelphia cops intentionally dropped an incendiary bomb that they knew could kill people. Then cops intentionally fired bullets at people escaping the fire, an estimated 10,000 bullets before, during, and after their terrorist attack on the MOVE complex. People were forced to choose: stay inside and burn to death, or leave and be shot.
I vividly remember the cops terrorist attack upon MOVE because it was within a week of my high school graduation. It’s one of those news stories that you never forget.