Alizé Bland

Violent Criminal Behavior

Dr. E. Wheeler
Week 10: 2021

Terrorism and Violent Crimes

This week was about terrorism. Unfortunately, the number of terrorist events in the United States
is incredibly high.

For your discussion, identify a terrorist event that has occurred in the United States. Identify if
the terrorist was international or domestic, as well as information about the event. Then, discuss
the classification of the terrorist as well as the typology. Defend your answer.

Provide two follow-up responses to your classmates on if you agree or disagree with their
classification and typology. Identify why you agree/disagree. If you disagree, identify which
classification/typology you would have chosen.

Who is the REAL Terrorist? On May 13, 1985, Philadelphia police bombed the row home of a
group of radical black activists called MOVE (not an acronym). The explosion caused a fire that
killed eleven MOVE members, including five children inside the home (aged 7-13). The fire
could have been quickly put out, but law enforcement officers were told to let the fire spread. As
the bomb dropped and smoke began to fill the MOVE residence, police launched tear gas
canisters in the home and fired over 10,000 rounds of ammunition (knowing that MOVE
members were unarmed); as MOVE members were trying to escape gunfire forced them back
inside; leaving two surviving members. The fire had destroyed 65 houses on the 6200 block of
Osage Avenue, expanding over two blocks; devastating the entire neighborhood of West
Philadelphia. MOVE members identify as profoundly religious and advocate for life. They
believe that as all living beings are dependent, their lives should be treated as equally important.
They advocate for justice that is not always based within institutions. MOVE members believe
that it must be just for all living creatures for something to be just. As activists, they staged
bullhorn-amplified, profanity-laced demonstrations against institutions they opposed, such as
zoos, and speakers whose views they opposed. MOVE activities were scrutinized by law
enforcement authorities, labeling them terrorist, particularly under the administration of Mayor
Frank Rizzo, a former police commissioner known for his hard-line against activist groups and
black individuals. Although MOVE was non-violent in their disruptive demonstrations, many see
the bombing as part of a decades-long tradition of violent policing aimed at African-Americans.
This would be an event of domestic terrorism, and the terrorist typology would be a far right-
wing terrorist. To blame here would be the Mayor’s office, and the entire police department
would be to blame here.