The MOVE 9 are innocent men and women who have been in prison since
August 8, 1978, following a massive police attack on us at our home in
Powelton Village (Philadelphia). This was seven years before the
government dropped a bomb on MOVE, killing 11 people, including 5
babies. The August 8, 1978 police attack on MOVE followed years of
police brutality against MOVE and was a major military operation
carried out by the Philadelphia police department under orders of
then-mayor, Frank Rizzo, whose reputation for racism and brutality is
well known; it followed him up thru the ranks of the police department
to the police commissioner's office to the mayor's office. During this
attack, heavy equipment was used to tear down the fence surrounding our
home, and cops filled our home with enough tear gas to kill
us and our babies, while SWAT teams covered every possible exit. We
were all in the basement of our home, where we had 10 thousand pounds
of water pressure per minute directed at us from 4 fire department
water cannons (for a total of 40 thousand pounds of water pressure per
minute). As the basement filled with nearly six feet of water we had to
hold our babies and animals above the rising water so they wouldn't
drown. Suddenly shots rang out (news reporters and others know the shots came from a house at 33rd and Baring St., not our home, because they actually saw
the man shooting) and bullets immediately filled the air as police
through-out the area opened fire on us. Officer James Ramp, who was
standing above us on street-level and facing our home, was killed by a single bullet that struck him on a downward angle. This alone makes it impossible for MOVE to have killed Ramp, since we were below
street level, in the basement. MOVE adults came out of the house
carrying our children through clouds of tear gas, we were beat and
arrested. Television cameras actually filmed the vicious beating of our brother Delbert Africa (3 of the 4 cops that beat Delbert went to trial on minor charges). Despite the photographic evidence, the trial judge (Stanley Kubacki) refused to let the jury render a verdict and himself
acquitted the cops by directed order. Nine of us were charged with
murder and related charges for the death of James Ramp. Within a few
hours of our arrest, our home (which is supposed to be the "scene of
the crime" and therefore evidence) was deliberately destroyed, demolished, by city officials when they were legally obligated to preserve
all evidence, but we were held for trial anyway. We went to trial
before Judge Edward Malmed who convicted all nine of us of third degree
murder (while admitting that he didn't have "the faintest idea" who
killed Ramp) and sentenced each of us to 30 - 100 years in prison.
Judge Malmed also stated that MOVE people said we are a family so he sentenced us as a family; we were supposed to be on trial for murder, not
for being a family. It is clear that the MOVE 9 are in prison for being
committed MOVE members, not for any accusation of crime. Three other
adults that were in the house on August 8th did not get the same treatment as those that this government knows are committed MOVE members. One had all
charges dismissed against her in September of 1978 with the judge
saying that there was no evidence that she was a committed MOVE member
when the issue was supposed to be murder. The second one was
held for trial but released on bail; she was acquitted. The third one
was held for trial with no bail, convicted of conspiracy and given
10-23 years; she was paroled in 1994. It is obvious that everything
depended on whether or not the courts thought it was dealing with a
committed MOVE member, court decisions had nothing to do with the accusation of murder. It has been 25 years since the August 8, 1978 police attack on MOVE, 25 years
of unjust of imprisonment, but despite the hardship of being separated
from family-members, despite the grief over the murder of
family-members (including babies), the MOVE 9 remain strong and loyal
to our Belief, our Belief in Life, the Teaching of our Founder, JOHN
AFRICA. We have an uncompromising commitment to our Belief, which is
what makes us a strong unified family, despite all this government have
done to break us up and ultimately exterminate us.
It will take a massive amount of public pressure to force this
rotten corrupt government to release the MOVE 9 and all political
prisoners----What can YOU do to add to the pressure?
MOVE 9
Ramona
Africa: The Devil's Move on Move pt. 1
Ramona
Africa: The Devil's Move on Move pt.2
WRITE THE MOVE 9 AT THE FOLLOWING ADDRESSES
Debbie Sims Africa #006307; Janet Hollaway Africa #006308
Janine Phillips Africa #6309
451 Fullerton Ave.
Cambridge Springs, PA. 16403-1238
William Phillips Africa #AM 4984; Delbert Orr Africa #AM 4985
1000 Follies Rd.
Dallas, PA. 18612
Michael Davis Africa #AM 4973; Charles Sims Africa #AM 4975
P.O. Box 244
Graterford, PA. 19426-0246
Edward Goodman Africa #AM 4974
301 Morea Rd.
Frackville, PA. 17932
CONTACT US THROUGH ANY OF THE FOLLOWING:
THE MOVE ORGANIZATION
P.O. Box 19709 Phila., PA. 19143
610 499-0979
onamovellja@aol.com
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