• snf@lemmy.world
      2·
      7 months ago

      Here you go: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1985_MOVE_bombing

      The 1985 MOVE bombing, locally known by its date, May 13, 1985, was the destruction of residential homes in the Cobbs Creek neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, by the Philadelphia Police Department during a standoff with MOVE, a black liberation organization. Philadelphia police dropped two explosive devices from a helicopter onto the roof of a house occupied by MOVE. The Philadelphia Police Department allowed the resulting fire to burn out of control, destroying 61 previously evacuated neighboring homes over two city blocks and leaving 250 people homeless. Six adults and five children were killed in the attack, with one adult and one child surviving. A lawsuit in federal court found that the city used excessive force and violated constitutional protections against unreasonable search and seizure.

      The callousness manifested by the police is truly shocking. “Allowed the fire to burn out of control” is important here – the cops deliberately denied firefighters access to the scene so they could deal with the spreading fire. “WTF” is exactly right.

      For more depth on this, I recommend the CBC podcast “The Africas vs America”. It’s weird that the incident isn’t better known given how wild the story is.

  • Jax@sh.itjust.works
    11·
    7 months ago

    ITT: a whole fuckload of people ignoring context.

    Condemn the cops for using excessive force. Condemn them for not taking more time to de-escalate the situation. Condemn then for bringing 500 cops and burning down the neighborhood.

    However, this wasn’t just a random act of violence, the MOVE people opened fire on the cops first. This was after months of people complaining about the trash piling up around the building, them using a bullhorn to effectively harass the people who lived around them, etc. The MOVE people, by what I’ve read, seemed like hell to live near. (This is mostly in the wikipedia article, the only part conveniently omitted being that MOVE shot first)

    But to my real point: IDC who you are or what you’re fighting for, if you decide to open fire with kids near you (or near the thing you’re shooting) then you’re a bad fucking person.