‘Justice for the MOVE 9!’

“Free the MOVE 9!" The chants rang out Aug. 7 in the steamy summer air. Protesters had gathered outside the Constitution Center to mark the 27th anniversary of the unjust imprisonment of MOVE members, jailed after a 1978 assault by over 600 heavily armed Philadelphia police officers on the group´s Powelton Village headquarters.

MOVE held an Aug. 8 news conference outside the offices of Philadelphia District Attorney Lynne Abraham to demand she reopen the case.

In 1978, when the MOVE family fled into the basement of their home to avoid the attack, police attempted to flood them out with high-pressure hoses. During the attack, police officer James Ramp was killed by a single gunshot. Nine members of the MOVE family were charged with Ramp´s murder, and received 30-to-100-year sentences.

There is ample evidence that none of the nine was responsible for Ramp´s death. Even television and radio stations initially reported that Ramp was killed by “friendly fire’ from officers firing at the MOVE house. Police--clearly intent on killing MOVE members, including children, trapped inside--had fired over 2,000 rounds of ammunition.

A city negotiator inside the MOVE home at the time, as well as journalists and other eyewitnesses, all insisted that the shots appeared to have been fired from across the street. When police opened fire, several firefighters, other police officers, and MOVE members Delbert and Chuck Africa were all wounded.

Ramp, who was stationed toward the front of the assault formation, was shot in the back of his neck by a bullet traveling downward. MOVE members were in the basement of the house six feet below the ground, struggling to keep their children from drowning.

But any evidence that could have supported the defense in the case was destroyed by Philadelphia police following orders from Mayor Frank Rizzo to bulldoze the house, leveling it within hours of the assault. Noted Philadelphia journalist Linn Washington described it as “the fastest destruction of a crime-scene site in history.’

MOVE members Chuck, Debbie, Delbert, Eddie, Janet, Janine, Merle, Mike and Phil Africa were given the excessive sentences on May 4, 1980 by Judge Edward Malmed. When Malmed was a guest on a radio show a few days after the sentencing, journalist Mumia Abu-Jamal called in to ask him who killed Ramp. Malmed replied, “I haven´t the faintest idea.’ He said that since “they call themselves a family, I sentenced them as a family.’

Merle Africa was killed in prison on March 13, 1998. The others remain in prisons across the state of Pennsylvania.

In the eyes of the racist state, MOVE´s real offense was daring to stand up and speak out to expose the police brutality rampant in Philadelphia in the 1970s. Before becoming mayor, Rizzo had been commissioner of police, and his regime was a virtual police state.

Despite all the evidence and facts that prove their innocence, Philadelphia District Attorney Lynne Abraham has refused to consider legal appeals for the MOVE 9. She has balked at even considering an investigation into the case.

Warrants she signed in 1977, when she was a Philadelphia judge, provided the basis for the 1978 assault.

But the truth is coming to light. "MOVE," an award-winning documentary released this year, provides a thorough, unbiased history of the events surrounding the case. The MOVE organization has also announced that the African American Museum here will present a MOVE exhibition from Oct. 7 to Nov. 6.

For more information on the MOVE 9, visit their website: www.onamove.com.