Film on '85 MOVE disaster comes to TV

Philadelphia Daily News ^ | 05/12/2014 | Ellen Gray

[Kid Shelleen]

JASON OSDER was a fifth-grader living just outside Philadelphia on May 13, 1985, the day police firebombed the MOVE house on Osage Avenue in West Philadelphia, igniting a fire in which 11 people, including five children, died, and the surrounding neighborhood was destroyed.

He never forgot.

[Kid Shelleen]

**** Philly Metro Ping ****

[tet68]

They “firebombed” it? No bias there.

[IrishBrigade]

...it’ll be interesting to see how they blame Dubya Bush for it...

[WayneS]

Well...

You see...

They DID essentially firebomb it.

[Jack Hammer]

I was living in West Philly at the time, just down the street from all the action.

It’s not my recollection that the police actually firebombed the house, but it’s been a while and I can’t recall exact details.

However, I seem to recall that there was a lot of shooting, and somehow the fire got started as a result of that.

I could be wrong.

[gop4lyf]

There is something on Netflix about it. I didn’t watch it.

[babygene]

“They “firebombed” it? No bias there.”

I lived there then, and yes they did. They dropped a bomb from a helicopter that resulted in a fire. Isn’t that “firebombed”?

And nobody was held accountable from what I remember.

[babygene]

Sorry... Shortly after that Mayor Good (sp) got shot. I remember the headlines... “Good Shot!”

[tet68]

They dropped a bomb from a helicopter that resulted in a fire.

So, they were bombed and a fire started.
That’s what I said, they did not drop an incendiary
device for the purpose of starting a fire.

[Publius]

Goode was never shot. Some cops were shot, though.

[babygene]

“Goode was never shot. Some cops were shot, though.”

Actually he was... Do a Google search. It wasn’t during the raid it was afterward.

[Anitius Severinus Boethius]

The police dropped two bombs on the target house because there looked to be a hardened bunker on the top floor. They firebombed the house.

[WayneS]

Yes. They. Did.

[BenLurkin]

Correct. That’s how I remember it.

[Smokin' Joe]

An incendiary device was dropped on the roof to try to break a siege situation. The device apparently penetrated the roof and burned down not only the building with the people inside, but (iirc) most of the rest of the block.

When Waco was happening (Branch Davidians at Mt. Carmel) the MOVE incident was brought up quite a bit.

[Kid Shelleen]

Isn’t that “firebombed”?
As I recall the MOVE people poured gasoline on their roof. The police used a "bomb" as an "entrance device" because the MOVE people barricaded themselves in their house.

And nobody was held accountable from what I remember.
The mayor was re-elected. I think the police chief lost a civil suite but basically everyone skated. The real tragedy was that the kids could have been picked up in the local park but the policed waited until they were in the house before they began the assault.
The entire block was destroyed because the fire department was ordered to stand down..

[RetiredArmy]

His daddy was VP during that period, 1985. The last GREAT president, Ronald Reagan was in office.

[bill1952]

They did.
I was appalled that police were dropping bombs on residential neighborhoods. The next shoe to drop was the police stopping all firemen from putting out the fires causing destruction of the entire block.
That was settled in a civil suit against Philadelphia long ago.

[Publius]

I just ran a search, and I can’t find anything about Goode taking a bullet. His grand-nephew, yes, not but Goode himself.