Bones of Children Killed in MOVE Bombing Used in College Classrooms

Misbar’s investigation confirmed that the bones belonged to deceased children who died in a police bombing in 1985. It is also confirmed that the bones have been used as part of a Princeton University online video course since 2019, which occurred without the surviving relatives’ permission. 

Both the Guardian and Billy Penn sources stated that the bones of the children were being used in the online course without the permission of the children’s surviving relatives, who are the dead children’s mothers. 

It is also accurate to state that the police killed the children whose remains are being displayed without permission in the video. In 2020, the governing council of Philadelphia formally apologized for ordering a police helicopter to drop plastic explosives onto a house. This bombing resulted in the deaths of 11 people, five of whom were children. 

Both The Guardian and Billy Penn state that the remains were acquired by Alan Mann, a University of Pennsylvania professor, who identified that the bones belonged to children who died in the bombing. The sources state that Mann then retained the bones for decades and took them with him when he transferred to Princeton University. They could not find any evidence of Mann requesting permission from the relatives to retain the bones during this time. 

This story has been making headlines to highlight a historic and often overlooked instance of police brutality in America. The bombing occurred on May 13, 1985. It began when police officers arrived at the Philadelphia residence of MOVE, a political and religious group, to fulfil arrest warrants. When the members of MOVE refused to leave the building, the police told them they had 15 minutes to emerge. A member of MOVE began shooting at the police, who shot back. After many hours of shooting, the Philadelphia mayor approved for the police to drop a bomb on the building. The resulting explosion killed the MOVE members and destroyed 61 houses.