Philadelphia marks 40th anniversary of MOVE bombing

Driving the news: The Community College of Philadelphia is hosting a daylong symposium on the 40th anniversary of the bombing today from 9am to 4pm inside the Winnet Building's Great Hall.

• Scholars, journalists, artists and cultural leaders will discuss the bombing and its aftermath.
• Michael Africa Jr., the legacy director of MOVE, is the keynote speaker.
• RSVP required.

What else: At 5pm, the MOVE Activist Archive will hold a commemoration in front of the historical marker at Cobbs Creek Parkway and Osage Avenue.

• A narration of the events from that day will begin at 5:27pm — the time the bomb dropped.

Context: On May 13, 1985, hundreds of officers laid siege to MOVE's rowhouse in the Cobbs Creek neighborhood after a violent confrontation between police and the group's members.

• Police fired more than 10,000 rounds of ammunition in under an hour and a half.

• Despite knowing about children inside, police dropped a bomb made of C-4 explosives on the house — with approval from city officials.
• Law enforcement allowed the resulting blaze to burn out of control for over an hour.

No one was ever criminally charged.

• After the bombing, some of the MOVE members' remains were mishandled.
• The University of Pennsylvania recently settled a lawsuit over its handling of a bombing victim's remains.