"On May 13, 1985, after a long standoff, Philadelphia municipal authorities dropped a bomb on a residential row house. The Osage Avenue home was the headquarters of the African-American radical group MOVE, which had confronted police on many occasions since the group's founding in 1972. The resulting fire killed 11 people including five children and the group's leader, John Africa destroyed 61 homes, and tore apart a community."
"Nine members of the organization were imprisoned for the shooting; MOVE said the death was a result of friendly fire. After that incident, MOVE regrouped and riled up the neighborhood to attract the attention of the authorities. The group moved to a compound on Osage Avenue. In the months before the fire, group members constructed a very intimidating, bunkerlike structure on their roof."
MOVE formed in 1972 and engaged in repeated confrontations with police through the 1970s and 1980s. A 1978 confrontation resulted in the death of a police officer and the imprisonment of nine MOVE members; MOVE asserted the death resulted from friendly fire. MOVE established a compound on Osage Avenue and constructed an intimidating, bunkerlike roof structure. On May 13, 1985, after a prolonged standoff, Philadelphia authorities dropped a bomb on the Osage Avenue row house and allowed the resulting fire to burn. The blaze killed eleven people, including five children and leader John Africa, destroyed sixty-one homes, and devastated the surrounding community.
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