The MOVE Bombing of 1985
The Day Philadelphia Bombed a City Block
8/23/20263 min read
The MOVE Bombing of 1985: The Day Philadelphia Bombed a City Block
On May 13, 1985, a confrontation in West Philadelphia ended with an extraordinary act: Philadelphia police dropped an explosive device from a helicopter onto an occupied row house.
Eleven people died, including five children. Sixty-one homes were destroyed, according to Philadelphia government records, and roughly 250 neighborhood residents were displaced. (Christy Brady, CPA)
This was the MOVE bombing, one of the most controversial episodes in modern American urban history.
Who Was MOVE?
MOVE emerged in Philadelphia during the early 1970s under the teachings of John Africa. The organization advocated a back-to-nature lifestyle and challenged established institutions. Its members had years of confrontations with Philadelphia authorities.
A 1978 confrontation between MOVE and police resulted in the death of Philadelphia police officer James Ramp and the imprisonment of nine MOVE members.
By the early 1980s, other MOVE members had settled at 6221 Osage Avenue in West Philadelphia. Conflict with neighbors and city officials intensified, eventually leading authorities to plan an operation to serve arrest warrants and remove the group from the property. (Finding Aids)
May 13, 1985
Police surrounded the MOVE house.
According to Philadelphia's 2022 independent investigation, city officials knew that children were inside. Authorities shut off water and electricity, attempted to force occupants from the building with water cannons and tear gas, and exchanged gunfire with people inside the house.
The confrontation escalated dramatically.
Later that day, with approval from city leadership, Philadelphia police used a helicopter to drop a satchel bomb containing Tovex and C-4 explosives onto a fortified structure on the roof.
The explosion started a fire. (City of Philadelphia)
The Hidden Detail: Officials Let the Fire Burn
What happened after the explosion is one of the most disturbing parts of the documented record.
The city's 2022 investigation states that subsequent investigations concluded police and fire officials used the fire as a tactical weapon by allowing it to burn.
Eventually, the fire became uncontrollable.
It swept through the surrounding row houses.
By the time it ended, 61 homes had been destroyed. Hundreds of neighborhood residents were displaced. (Christy Brady, CPA)
Only two occupants escaped the MOVE compound alive: Ramona Africa and 13-year-old Birdie Africa.
Six adults and five children died. (City of Philadelphia)
The Investigation
Philadelphia Mayor W. Wilson Goode established the Philadelphia Special Investigation Commission, commonly called the MOVE Commission.
Investigators conducted approximately 1,000 interviews, collected government records, consulted experts, and held five weeks of televised hearings during which 92 witnesses testified.
Its final report was issued in March 1986.
One of its conclusions was devastatingly direct:
“Dropping a bomb on an occupied row house was unconscionable.”
The commission issued 38 recommendations concerning city planning and operations. (Finding Aids)
Another Hidden Record Emerged Decades Later
The story did not end in 1985.
Decades later, another controversy emerged involving the remains of people killed in the bombing.
In 2021, Philadelphia commissioned independent investigations into the city's possession and handling of victims' remains.
The resulting report, released on June 9, 2022, examined records from city archives, universities, funeral homes, cemeteries, and interviews with more than 70 people. (City of Philadelphia)
The investigation documented serious problems involving the treatment and custody of remains.
Among its recommendations was that the Philadelphia Medical Examiner's Office reconsider death certificates for all 11 victims, including whether their manner of death should be recorded as homicide rather than accident. (City of Philadelphia)
That means the historical record surrounding MOVE was still being examined and corrected more than three decades after the bombing.
Why MOVE Matters
The MOVE bombing forces difficult questions about the limits of government power.
How did serving arrest warrants escalate into dropping explosives from a helicopter?
Why was a fire permitted to burn when children and surrounding families were at risk?
How were residents whose homes were destroyed treated afterward?
And why did questions concerning victims' remains continue for decades?
These questions are not based on rumor.
They exist in commission testimony, municipal investigations, photographs, government documents, interviews, legal files, and archival collections.
Temple University's Special Collections Research Center preserves records from the Philadelphia Special Investigation Commission, including interviews, hearing records, photographs, evidence files, government documents, and copies of the commission's final report. (Finding Aids)
Follow the Record
Hidden history does not necessarily mean secret history.
Sometimes an event occurred in public, appeared on television, generated thousands of pages of documentation—and still faded from broader national memory.
The MOVE bombing happened in an American city in 1985.
Eleven people died.
Five were children.
Sixty-one homes were destroyed.
And an official investigation concluded that dropping the bomb was unconscionable. (Finding Aids)
Those facts require neither exaggeration nor speculation.
They require remembrance.
The documents remain. The testimony remains. The neighborhood remembers. Follow the evidence.
Proof Trail
Philadelphia Special Investigation Commission (1985–1986): extensive commission records preserved through Temple University Libraries, including testimony, evidence, photographs, interviews, and the final report. (Finding Aids)
City of Philadelphia Independent Investigation (June 9, 2022): investigation into the history and handling of MOVE victims' remains, incorporating archival records and more than 70 interviews. (City of Philadelphia)
Philadelphia City Controller investigation (January 27, 2021): official city report providing historical context on the bombing, including the 11 deaths, five child victims, destruction of 61 homes, and displacement of approximately 250 residents. (Christy Brady, CPA)