The MOVE bombing was a police operation on May 13, 1985, in which the Philadelphia Police Department dropped a satchel of military explosives from a helicopter onto a rowhouse at 6221 Osage Avenue occupied by the Black revolutionary group MOVE. The blast and the fire that officials allowed to burn killed eleven people, including five children, and destroyed 61 homes across two city blocks. No government official was ever criminally charged. Four decades later, the event’s legal, financial, and human consequences are still unfolding.
What Happened on May 13, 1985
Early that morning, roughly 500 officers evacuated the Cobbs Creek block and cordoned off the surrounding streets. At 6:00 a.m., Police Commissioner Gregore Sambor issued an ultimatum through a bullhorn ordering the occupants to come out. No one did.1Collaborative History, University of Pennsylvania. MOVE Osage Avenue
What followed was a day-long armed assault. Officers were equipped with M16 rifles, Uzis, and other military-style weapons. In under 90 minutes, police fired more than 10,000 rounds at the rowhouse. Fire hoses were trained on the structure, and crews tried to blow holes in the walls to insert tear gas. None of it dislodged the people inside.1Collaborative History, University of Pennsylvania. MOVE Osage Avenue
In the late afternoon, Mayor W. Wilson Goode authorized the use of a satchel charge. The device weighed approximately 25 to 30 pounds and combined C-4 military explosives with Tovex, a water-gel explosive. At 5:27 p.m., a Pennsylvania State Police helicopter dropped the bomb onto a bunker that MOVE had built on the roof.2WHYY. MOVE Bombing Philadelphia Helicopter Pilot Warning
The explosion ignited gasoline vapors on the roof. Commissioner Sambor and Fire Commissioner William C. Richmond then made the decision that defined the catastrophe: they let the fire burn as a tactical measure, hoping to destroy the rooftop bunker. Firefighters were held back, in part because of fear they would be shot at by MOVE members. Serious firefighting efforts did not begin until roughly 9:30 p.m., by which point about 50 homes were already in flames.2WHYY. MOVE Bombing Philadelphia Helicopter Pilot Warning
Who Was Killed and Who Survived
Eleven of the thirteen people inside the house died. The five children were Katricia (14), Delisha (12), Zanetta (12), Phil (12), and Tomaso (9). The six adults were John Africa, Rhonda Africa, Theresa Africa, Frank Africa, Conrad Africa, and Raymond Africa.3The Nation. MOVE Bombing Anniversary Philadelphia
The fire consumed 61 homes across two city blocks and displaced 253 residents.4Collaborative History, University of Pennsylvania. Long Shadow MOVE Fire
Two people survived: Ramona Africa and 13-year-old Birdie Africa, whose birth name was Michael Moses Ward. In the ruins, police recovered only two pistols, two shotguns, and a .22-caliber rifle.1Collaborative History, University of Pennsylvania. MOVE Osage Avenue
Why Police Were There
MOVE was founded in 1972 by Vincent Leaphart, who adopted the name John Africa. The group blended Black nationalism with a back-to-nature philosophy, rejected modern medicine and technology, and had all members take the surname Africa.5The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia. MOVE
The 1985 confrontation grew directly out of an earlier one. On August 8, 1978, police tried to clear a MOVE compound in Powelton Village using bulldozers and water hoses. A firefight killed Philadelphia Police Sergeant James Ramp and wounded eighteen others. Nine MOVE members, known thereafter as the MOVE 9, were convicted of third-degree murder for Ramp’s death and sentenced to 30 to 100 years. MOVE always maintained that Ramp, shot in the back of the neck while facing the house, was killed by friendly fire.6Philadelphia Inquirer. MOVE Untangling Tragedy Powelton Village Shootout
After the convictions, MOVE moved to 6221 Osage Avenue and used loudspeakers at all hours to demand the release of the MOVE 9. Neighbors complained about the broadcasts, about a fortified bunker on the roof, and about sanitation. In April 1985, residents appealed to Governor Richard Thornburgh. Mayor Goode requested a tactical plan, District Attorney Ed Rendell activated arrest warrants for four adults inside, and police obtained a court order to take custody of the children, who ranged in age from 7 to 13.1Collaborative History, University of Pennsylvania. MOVE Osage Avenue
What the MOVE Commission Found
Mayor Goode appointed the Philadelphia Special Investigation Commission, chaired by William Brown, to examine what had happened. It took testimony from more than 90 witnesses over five weeks of hearings at WHYY studios and issued its final report in March 1986.7WHYY. Philadelphia MOVE Bombing 40th Anniversary 1985 Commission
The report was scathing. The commission called the tactical plan “reckless, ill-conceived, and hastily approved.” It said the decision to drop a bomb on an occupied rowhouse was “unconscionable” and “should have been rejected out-of-hand.” The firing of more than 10,000 rounds in under 90 minutes was “clearly excessive and unreasonable.” The decision to let the fire burn was “hasty, reckless and irresponsible.” Mayor Goode, Commissioner Sambor, and Managing Director Leo Brooks were all found “grossly negligent.” The commission concluded that the children’s deaths “appear to be unjustified homicides which should be investigated by a grand jury.”8New York Times. Excerpts From Commissions Report on Bombing
Why No One Was Criminally Charged
A grand jury was impaneled in 1986. Its report, issued in May 1988, said it did not exonerate the officials but absolved them of criminal intent. No charges followed.4Collaborative History, University of Pennsylvania. Long Shadow MOVE Fire
Mayor Goode won re-election in 1987. He apologized publicly at least four times over the following decades. In a 2020 opinion piece in The Guardian, he wrote that the “decision to drop explosives on a house filled with people was indefensible” and called on the city to issue a formal apology.9The Guardian. When I Was Mayor Philadelphia Bombed Civilians Its Time for the City to Apologise Goode maintained he had no advance knowledge of the specific tactical plan and said he had ordered the fire extinguished, a claim Fire Commissioner Richmond contradicted, saying he never received such an order.106ABC. Former Philadelphia Mayor Calls for City Apology in MOVE Bombing
In 2013, Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey requested a Justice Department review, which concluded that the police department had suffered from “systemic deficiencies” and had improperly trained officers equipped with military hardware.5The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia. MOVE
The Civil Lawsuits and Settlements
Accountability, where it came at all, came through civil court. In 1990, the city paid $2.5 million to settle wrongful-death claims brought by families of the five children killed in the bombing.11Philadelphia Inquirer. City Ordered to Pay $1.5 Million to Plaintiffs in MOVE Bombing
The largest trial reached a federal jury on June 24, 1996, in In re City of Philadelphia Litigation. Plaintiffs Ramona Africa, the administrator of John Africa’s estate, and the administratrix of Frank James Africa’s estate brought claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, alleging that the bombing and fire were excessive force and unreasonable seizure in violation of the Fourth Amendment. The jury unanimously found the City of Philadelphia, Commissioner Sambor, and Commissioner Richmond liable, awarding $500,000 in compensatory damages to each of the three plaintiffs for a total of $1.5 million.11Philadelphia Inquirer. City Ordered to Pay $1.5 Million to Plaintiffs in MOVE Bombing
For punitive damages, the jury ordered Sambor and Richmond to pay one dollar per week for eleven years to each plaintiff.12Justia. In Re City of Philadelphia Litigation, 938 F Supp 1278 That same summer, a federal judge rescinded the judgment against the two commissioners individually, ruling they were entitled to qualified immunity as city employees. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit upheld that immunity ruling in September 1998.4Collaborative History, University of Pennsylvania. Long Shadow MOVE Fire
U.S. District Judge Louis H. Pollak made one legal finding worth noting. He ruled that the decision to drop the bomb was legally reasonable as a use of force for an arrest, but he allowed the separate decision to let the fire burn to be examined by the jury as potential excessive force. Former Mayor Goode and Managing Director Brooks were dismissed from the case before trial.11Philadelphia Inquirer. City Ordered to Pay $1.5 Million to Plaintiffs in MOVE Bombing
The Rebuilt Neighborhood That Failed
The Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority hired a contractor to rebuild the 61 destroyed homes. The project was plagued by corruption and incompetence. Initial estimates of $4.9 million rose to $8.27 million. The replacement homes cost roughly $130,000 each to build, against a market value of about $30,000 for the originals, and they were defective almost from the start. Residents reported sagging beams, leaking roofs, buckling ceilings, rotting wood, and cracked walls. Some houses lacked support beams. Contractor Edward Edwards of Ebony Construction Company was imprisoned for looting $130,000 in construction funds.4Collaborative History, University of Pennsylvania. Long Shadow MOVE Fire
A 1997 Army Corps of Engineers study catalogued the structural failures. By 2000, bringing the homes up to code would have cost an estimated $10 million. Mayor John Street offered homeowners $150,000 each to sell back to the city. Thirty-six families accepted. Twenty-four refused and sued in federal court in 2005. A district court initially awarded $12.83 million, or roughly $534,000 per homeowner, but the Third Circuit reduced the award to $150,000 per homeowner in 2008.4Collaborative History, University of Pennsylvania. Long Shadow MOVE Fire
The 36 city-purchased homes sat boarded up for years. In 2016, the Redevelopment Authority transferred them to developer AJR Endeavors for one dollar each, with the condition that they be resold at market value as primary residences. By 2020, 32 of 36 new homes had been sold at prices ranging from $249,000 to $289,900.13WHYY. 35 Years After MOVE Homes That Philly Bombed for Sale
The Scandal Over the Victims’ Remains
Decades after the bombing, the treatment of victims’ remains became its own ongoing catastrophe. In the mid-1980s, the city’s Medical Examiner’s Office had tasked University of Pennsylvania anthropologists Alan Mann and Janet Monge with identifying bone fragments recovered from the site. Some of those remains were held at Penn and later transferred to Princeton for 36 years, without the knowledge or consent of the victims’ families.14The Guardian. MOVE Bombing Black Childrens Bones Philadelphia Princeton Pennsylvania
In April 2021, the public learned that Monge had used bone fragments believed to belong to one of the child victims as a case study in an online forensic anthropology course on Coursera, filmed in 2019. She handled and described the bones on camera without informing students that they were the remains of a bombing victim with living family members. The Penn Museum apologized and returned all known MOVE remains to the Africa family on July 2, 2021. The university commissioned the Tucker Law Group to investigate; its report concluded that while Monge and Mann did not violate professional or legal standards, they “demonstrated at a minimum, poor judgment and insensitivity.” In May 2022, Monge filed a defamation lawsuit against the University of Pennsylvania and more than 30 other defendants, alleging the coverage had damaged her reputation and led to her demotion.15Axios. Janet Monge Lawsuit Penn MOVE Bombing Remains
A separate but related scandal surfaced the same day. Mayor Jim Kenney disclosed on May 13, 2021, that Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas Farley had authorized the cremation and disposal of additional MOVE bombing remains discovered by the Medical Examiner’s Office in 2017, without notifying the families. Farley had acted unilaterally, reasoning that “investigations related to the MOVE bombing had been completed more than 30 years earlier.” Kenney demanded Farley’s immediate resignation and placed Medical Examiner Dr. Sam Gulino on administrative leave.16WHYY. Health Commissioner Dr Thomas Farley Resigns Over Mishandling of MOVE Bombing Remains The city retained the law firm Dechert LLP to conduct an independent review and changed its policy on disposal of investigation-related remains.17City of Philadelphia. Mayor Jim Kenney Announces Resignation of Health Commissioner Dr Thomas Farley
The remains saga continued. In November 2024, the Penn Museum disclosed that an ongoing inventory of its biological anthropology section had uncovered additional remains belonging to 12-year-old Delisha Africa, remains the university had previously denied possessing. Those were returned to the Africa family in March 2026.18Penn Museum. Towards Respectful Resolution Lionell Dotson, the brother of victim Katricia Dotson, reached an undisclosed settlement with the University of Pennsylvania in April 2025 and a separate settlement with the city over the handling of remains. A third lawsuit, filed against a funeral home hired by Penn, remained pending.19The Daily Pennsylvanian. Penn MOVE Bombing Victim Settlement
Where Things Stand Today
The nine MOVE members convicted after the 1978 shootout had all been eligible for parole since 2008 but were initially denied. Two died in prison: Merle Africa in 1998 and Phil Africa in 2015.5The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia. MOVE The surviving members were paroled between June 2018 and February 2020. Debbie Sims Africa was first, followed by Mike Africa Sr., Janine Phillips Africa and Janet Holloway Africa, Eddie Goodman Africa, Delbert Orr Africa, and finally Chuck Sims Africa on February 7, 2020. Delbert Orr Africa died in June 2020, and Chuck Sims Africa died in September 2021 after a four-year battle with cancer.20Yahoo News. Charles Sims Africa Last MOVE All nine maintained their innocence. Former District Attorney Ed Rendell, who oversaw the original prosecutions, later acknowledged that some members had served “far too much time.”106ABC. Former Philadelphia Mayor Calls for City Apology in MOVE Bombing
In 2020, the Philadelphia City Council and former Mayor Goode formally apologized for the bombing.21PBS NewsHour. The Largely Forgotten History of Philadelphias Police Bombing of Black Organization MOVE On May 8, 2025, Councilmember Jamie Gauthier introduced a resolution officially declaring May 13 a “day of reflection and remembrance.” The resolution was adopted, and Gauthier has said her goal is to make the remembrance annual.22NBC Philadelphia. MOVE Bombing Anniversary Philadelphia City Council Mike Africa Jr., the organization’s legacy director, has been managing a crowdfunding campaign to reclaim the 6221 Osage Avenue property and convert it into a memorial.3The Nation. MOVE Bombing Anniversary Philadelphia As of 2025, Philadelphia has no permanent memorial commemorating the bombing.