Let the Fire Burn

Michael, uh, you remember me

from the last time you and I talked?

About a week ago?

You see this camera?

You're going to have to say "yes"...

so that camera can take down

everything you say.

Because that camera can't take down

something when you shake your head.

Can you say "yes" for us?

Let me hear you say, "yes." "Yes."

That's pretty good. How about a

little bit louder than that? "Yes."

And we talked about what happened

on the 13th of May?

- You remember that?

- Yeah.

Now, Michael, do you know what it is to,

uh-to tell the truth about things?

You're gonna have to say "yes."

You can't shake your head. "Yes."

Okay. What does it mean when you

have to tell the truth about things?

- Don't lie.

- Don't lie. That's right.

And do you know what happens

to people who lie?

- Hmm?

- Yeah.

- What happens to them?

- They get hurt.

They get hurt.

Yes, the big story on Action News tonight

is the effort to evict MOVE...

from its house

on the 6200 block of Osage Avenue.

The effort has turned into a disaster.

The fire is now five-alarm,

still raging out of control as you can see.

An unknown number of heavily-armed

MOVE members continue at large,

possibly roaming the alleyways.

Going in, everybody knew

that MOVE would resist anything.

While the police will say that

they come here to arrest people,

we have done nothing wrong.

We do not want policemen killed.

We do not want people in the house killed.

Fellow officer, James Ramp,

was killed seven years ago.

They will never forget that.

Okay. This is unconfirmed.

We've got to emphasize this is unconfirmed.

But Channel 10 technician,

Fran Hardy reports-

An incendiary device

was dropped out of that helicopter.

Nobody around here has ever

seen anything like this.

We expect that maybe 60, perhaps more,

homes have gone up in flames.

I stand fully accountable

for the actions that took place tonight.

How did an attempt to arrest MOVE members

become an inferno that killed 11 people...

and destroyed 61 homes?

You can call the group reactionists,

revolutionaries, terrorists.

That was a decision...

to let the fire burn.

On May 13, 1985,

years of conflict between

the city of Philadelphia...

and a small, urban group

known as MOVE...

ended in a violent,

daylong encounter...

between the groups' members

and the Philadelphia police.

It was one of the most devastating days

in the modern history of the city.

Before we call the first witness...

I want to tell you

about this special commission.

We are men and women,

black and white,

guided by our own attitudes

and beliefs.

What we hope to accomplish

is to begin healing the wounds...

caused by the failure to resolve

conflicting lifestyles in a peaceful way.

Six, five, four, three...

This is MOVE, the people in an organization

that admits to being totally revolutionary.

For the past four years,

they have lived in the

Powelton Village area

of West Philadelphia,

often running into conflicts with police.

Their personal appearance

has brought stares and

some expressions of disapproval

from the community.

But it what they do that counts,

not how they look.

In everything from work habits to

child raising, MOVE is revolutionary.

Uh, I was indoctrinated with a philosophy

in the Panthers...

that revolution only meant picking up a

gun and going out and murdering somebody.

I never thought that revolution

consisted of revolutionizing myself...

to get away from the things

that caused me to wanna revolt.

MOVE does not believe in technology.

They use a wood-burning stove for heat,

and they have no electricity.

But they do have cars,

and they have a telephone. Why?

All the answers are in the guidelines,

their bible left by John Africa.

Miss Sims, can you describe for me

what the philosophy of MOVE was?

What did John Africa

teach with regard to the

society in which you

found yourself living?

You're asking what was being taught?

Yes, ma'am.

Okay. Um, the absolute truth.

We were being taught

about this system.

The corruption in this system.

But mainly, it was...

just the absolute truth.

What John Africa did was...

expose the lie in the system.

Uncover it.

Could you describe what you mean

by the word "the system", please?

The system.

The establishment. You.

Philadelphia is a tortured city.

Trash piles up at the curbline.

Kids are afraid to walk to school.

Abandoned homes

pockmark the ghetto.

Philadelphia needs a strong man

for a tough job.

Philadelphia needs

Frank Rizzo as mayor.

A small, vocal minority among us...

seeks to destroy

the heritage of 1776.

We must be ever-vigilant that this minority

does not impose its philosophy...

on the unwilling majority of Americans.

In their vigilant effort to maintain

close contact with mother Earth,

the MOVE members are breaking up the cement

of the sidewalk around their property.

Yeah, life.

But you are not animals. I mean...

- Why not?

- I don't want to be personal.

- Wait a minute. Why not?

- Yes, we are.

We are animals, because our reference is no

different than the reference of animals.

There's only one reference,

and that's life.

That's what MOVE is about.

Life. Truth. That's our religion.

We see John Africa in the same way

that people saw Jesus Christ...

because of his carpentry, because of his

simple way of living, and so forth.

Now, we know that John Africa is a man

who can explain Jesus Christ.

When Reverend Audrey Bronson wants to

practice her religion, nobody beats her up.

But when MOVE wanted to practice their

religion, people started talking about, uh,

"it's not done that way."

There are Catholics and Methodists,

evangelists, theologians, you name it.

We were the religion of life.

Where is it written that we could not

have a religion of our own?

Your brother, Vincent Leapheart

was John Africa, is that correct?

My brother, Vincent Leapheart,

was my brother.

John Africa was the founder

of the MOVE organization.

And they were one and the same?

I said my brother was my brother.

And I said John Africa was

the founder of the MOVE organization.

John-Vincent Leapheart

is my brother.

When Michael was about two years of age,

he was taken by his mother...

to a residence occupied by members

of an organization called MOVE.

And Michael was subsequently

given the name of Birdie Africa.

Michael Ward was, of course,

no more a member of MOVE...

than a child of Republican

or Democratic parents...

would be styled by

a particular party label.

He was throughout,

an absolutely innocent,

guiltless, and under the circumstances,

vulnerable child and youngster.

Now, when you go to school

and you embrace that education,

the very first thing you are

taught in school is separation...

is categorization,

alienation, conflict.

You're taught black, white,

blue, green.

Up, down, back, forth.

Taught, uh, Protestant, Catholic.

Taught Yale, Harvard.

Conflict. War.

You know, if a child does not know

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