On the evening of May 13, 1985, longstanding tensions between MOVE, a black liberation group, and the Philadelphia Police Department erupted horrifically. That night, the city of Philadelphia dropped a satchel bomb, a demolition device typically used in combat, laced with Tovex and C-4 explosives on the MOVE organization, who were living in a West Philadelphia rowhome known to be occupied by men, women, and children. It went up in unextinguished flames. Eleven people were killed, including five children and the founder of the organization. Sixty-one homes were destroyed, and more than 250 citizens were left homeless.
Folks familiar with this incident had a remarkably different take on the Waco siege and subsequent fire that resulted when the FBI surrounded David Koresh’s church compound. Same with the Ruby Ridge US Marshal slaying of a white nationalist’s wife and son, during an investigation into gun sales.
Then there’s the assassination of Fred Hampton and Malcolm X, the police storming of the Occupy Wall Street camps in New York, the COINTELPRO operations that targeted anti-war movements during the Bush Administration, the incredibly violence by police in Ferguson and Baltimore during the BLM marches, police kidnappings in Portland, Seattle, Chicago, and LA during the George Floyd protests.
I got to personally witness the mass arrest of protesters in Houston, after they were surrounded and kettled in Discovery Green Park.
America is a cursed land. Something something maybe don’t build your country on an ancient indian burial ground something something.
The popular take was that the FBI did nothing wrong and Koresh simply had to be stopped at all costs. The more /r/unpopularopinion take was that Janet Reno had something to prove, that the FBI recklessly flooded the compound with flammable gas, and that these deaths were entirely preventable had Bob Ricks not wanted to rush the surrender.
Ruby Ridge was a similar story. Initially, news media portrayed the Weavers as insurrectionists intent on personally waging war on the entire federal government. The US Marshals were given the initial benefit of the doubt, despite the incident turning hot when a marshal shot the family dog and then the Weaver’s 14-year-old boy who was working it.
Oh. I thought that over in the USA the default position was that the feds were in the wrong. Not a day goes by without conservatives talking about how the feds murder dogs.
The day Philadelphia bombed its own people: An oral history of a 1985 police bombing that changed the city forever.
Folks familiar with this incident had a remarkably different take on the Waco siege and subsequent fire that resulted when the FBI surrounded David Koresh’s church compound. Same with the Ruby Ridge US Marshal slaying of a white nationalist’s wife and son, during an investigation into gun sales.
Then there’s the assassination of Fred Hampton and Malcolm X, the police storming of the Occupy Wall Street camps in New York, the COINTELPRO operations that targeted anti-war movements during the Bush Administration, the incredibly violence by police in Ferguson and Baltimore during the BLM marches, police kidnappings in Portland, Seattle, Chicago, and LA during the George Floyd protests.
I got to personally witness the mass arrest of protesters in Houston, after they were surrounded and kettled in Discovery Green Park.
America is a cursed land. Something something maybe don’t build your country on an ancient indian burial ground something something.
Guess when they apologized for it. (Spoiler - 35 years later)
And guess what they tried and failed to do with remains of the victims. (Spoiler - destroy them without consent from family members)
We got lucky our curse just turns the microwave on every now and then.
Don’t worry guys, we’re the land of the free /s
Out of curiosity, what were the remarkably different takes on Waco and Ruby Ridge?
The popular take was that the FBI did nothing wrong and Koresh simply had to be stopped at all costs. The more /r/unpopularopinion take was that Janet Reno had something to prove, that the FBI recklessly flooded the compound with flammable gas, and that these deaths were entirely preventable had Bob Ricks not wanted to rush the surrender.
Ruby Ridge was a similar story. Initially, news media portrayed the Weavers as insurrectionists intent on personally waging war on the entire federal government. The US Marshals were given the initial benefit of the doubt, despite the incident turning hot when a marshal shot the family dog and then the Weaver’s 14-year-old boy who was working it.
Oh. I thought that over in the USA the default position was that the feds were in the wrong. Not a day goes by without conservatives talking about how the feds murder dogs.