MOVE Bombing at 40

This two-part series about the horrific MOVE bombing that rocked the City of Brotherly Love 40 years ago is reported by WHYY News reporter Tom MacDonald. The police standoff ended with a bomb dropped, 61 families displaced and 11 lives lost, including five children.

This is an exclusive story that people need to hear – the stunning firsthand account of a helicopter pilot who flew the route along the 6200 block of Osage Avenue in Philadelphia and advised the city on that fateful day that “you don’t have to drop a bomb.”

Episode 1: You don’t have to drop a bomb

Forty years ago, the City of Philadelphia used a helicopter to drop a satchel bomb the size of a backpack on a group of residents. For the first time, a helicopter pilot who flew the route ahead of the bombing shares his story. He advised the city that “the bunker’s no threat.” And yet, the city dropped the deadly bomb on May 13, 1985.

Episode 2: The city that bombed itself

The shocking end to a contentious standoff between police and MOVE, a controversial back-to-nature group, resulted in an aerial bomb dropped by police on 6221 Osage Avenue in Philadelphia. A fire ensued, 11 lives were lost, 61 families were displaced, dozens of rowhomes were destroyed by the fire and the soul of the community was shattered.

Project Credits:

Host and Reporter

• Tom MacDonald, Reporter, WHYY News

Executive Producer

• Sarah Glover, WHYY Vice President of News and Civic Dialogue

Editors

• Mark Eichmann, WHYY News

Engineering

• Charlie Kaier, WHYY

Supporters

• WHYY