Police Burn Down a Philadelphia Neighborhood

May 13, 1985

Eleven people are killed and more than 60 homes are destroyed in a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania neighborhood as a result of the police bombing the heavily-armed home of the radical group “MOVE”. The police were attempting to end a two-day siege. Police had attempted to evict MOVE members from a house when they came under fire. A police helicopter then dropped two explosive devices onto the roof of the house. The police allowed the resulting fire to burn out of control for 90 minutes, destroying 61 previously neighboring homes over two city blocks and leaving 250 people homeless. A lawsuit found that the city used excessive force and violated constitutional protections against unreasonable search and seizure.