Finding Arguments in Lived Experience (continued)

MOVE is a loose-knit, mostly black group whose members all adopted the surname Africa, advocated a "back-to-nature" lifestyle and preached against technology. In 1985, members of the group began blaring profane anti-government messages over a loudspeaker from their row house in an effort to free nine members who had been convicted of killing a police officer. MOVE's neighbors complained that members constantly harassed passersby, that the stench of human and animal feces was overwhelming the neighborhood, and that MOVE members had been seen with weapons. Police officers arrived at the MOVE home at 6221 Osage Avenue in West Philadelphia on the morning of May 13, 1985 to serve arrest warrants on four MOVE members, and were met with gunfire, authorities said. Police fired back, touching off a 90-minute gun battle. Later that day, police dropped the bomb on the MOVE row house from a state police helicopter. The bomb missed its target -- a fortified bunker on the roof -- and started a fire that burned an entire city block. The plaintiffs contended that then-Police Commissioner Sambor and then-Fire Commissioner Richmond, who were on the scene, agreed to let the fire burn. The fire destroyed 61 row houses, including MOVE's, and left 250 people homeless. Of the 11 people killed in the fire, five were children. back