• Got_Bent@lemmy.world
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    6 months ago

    The only surviving adult MOVE member, Ramona Africa, refused to testify in court and was charged and convicted on charges of riot and conspiracy; she served seven years in prison.

    Jesus Christ! No criminal charges against police so let’s imprison the sole surviving victim!

    (She did get a handsome settlement years later, so there’s that but holy hell man)

      • Railing5132@lemmy.world
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        6 months ago

        *terrorists as labeled by the fucking mayor…

        We got goddamned Vote Quimby down here deciding who’s a terrorist because they got warrants, trash, and a bullhorn being a public nuisance.

        Edit: -Terrorists armed with a… gas generator (commence pearl clutching)

        -what the actual fucking fuck did the Keystone Kops think would happen if they dropped explosives on the gas generator in hopes of “taking out the “rooftop bunker”” which was most likely the goddamned rooftop access. They had to know. And if the didn’t, they were criminally stupid.

        -you mention that anyone picking up their banner today is (some derogatory term I forget). Can you really not see why someone would look to extremes when faced with systemic oppression?

        -and: 2A rights for everyone! “oh, only WASPy, good, christian tightey-whitey men, sorry - not you… When any minority holds a gun they’re obviously criminals.” and yes, I know there were warrants and shootouts in this case. But justice wasn’t served.

        • FiniteBanjo@lemmy.today
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          6 months ago

          I see a cult with a fortified compound and armed soldiers, with multiple missed paroles and a history of armed violence going back over a decade. If they’re not terrorist then what the fuck are they?

          They are also victims, none of the things that occurred on May 13th should have ever happened with competent and respectful leadership and negotiation perhaps by the FBI or actual service members, but being a victim doesn’t erase every stupid indecent thing people have ever done.

          Those children died in the cult’s basement. MOVE continued shooting at Firefighters after their roof burst into flames.

            • FiniteBanjo@lemmy.today
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              6 months ago

              Thank goodness it wasn’t the same scale as that event, but at least the FBI attempted to negotiate and staved off a full offensive until 51 days had passed. If the Philadelphia police had shown that kind of respect and restraint then things might have ended a lot differently for the MOVE members.

              • SwingingTheLamp@midwest.social
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                6 months ago

                And yet the Waco siege is still a rallying cry for anti-government groups accusing the FBI and DEA of unjust, violent overreaction, while the MOVE bombing is not. Huh, I wonder what the difference is? /s

          • Nevoic@lemm.ee
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            6 months ago

            Terrorist is just a loaded word. Like Hamas is a “terrorist organization” but the state of Israel isn’t.

            Terrorism often boils down to “enacting violence against systems of oppression”. Is the IDF a terrorist organization? What about the DoD? These organizations use violence to perpetuate existing systems of oppression, causing vastly more harm than any domestic “terrorist” organization ever will.

            While these 11 people were being killed by the state for being “terrorists”, the CIA was backing fascists (contras) to overthrow democratically elected socialists in Nicaragua. Is the CIA a terrorist organization?

            • Madison420@lemmy.world
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              6 months ago

              No man they literally threatened to bomb other countries for shit happening in the us, that’s everyone’s definition of terrorism.

              • Nevoic@lemm.ee
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                6 months ago

                This misses the point. If we’re being technical, Hamas/MOVE is obviously a terrorist organization. Trying to convince me that they are isn’t going to change my position, because I already believe that.

                It’s just that in-so-far as Hamas/MOVE etc. are terrorist organizations, the CIA/IDF are far larger ones. They inflict terror and use violence for political gain, the only difference is they’re the ones in power so they decide who is a terrorist.

                That’s the problem with the word. The IDF and Hamas are both violent terror groups that shouldn’t exist, but Hamas only exists as a result of the IDF’s genocidal campaign, and yet we only call Hamas a terror group. It’s deeply problematic.

            • FiniteBanjo@lemmy.today
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              6 months ago

              That’s whataboutism, multiple wrongs don’t make a right and none of MOVE’s actions are forgiven by this argument.

              • Nevoic@lemm.ee
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                6 months ago

                Calling this whataboutism is like responding to the claim “people have a biological urge to reproduce” as a naturalistic fallacy.

                You’re using the word in sorta the right ballpark (I did make a comparison, e.g a “what about”), however not every time someone says “what about X” are they committing a fallacy.

                My entire point was how terrorist is a loaded word, that we only use it to describe one side (the side not in power), even though the technical definition obviously fits organizations in power. Making a comparison to demonstrate my literal only point isn’t fallacious.

                There were native american terror groups, yet the U.S government that literally genocided millions of native Americans isn’t a terror organization, despite their use of terror and violence to achieve political goals. It’s a word with clear problematic etymology.

                • FiniteBanjo@lemmy.today
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                  6 months ago

                  The CIA supporting Fascism in South America has fuck all to do with a confrontation between militarized police and a cult on May 13th 1985 in Philadelphia. If you think that’s not whataboutism then you’re dumb as a sack of bricks.

                  • Nevoic@lemm.ee
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                    6 months ago

                    Yeah no need to get this hostile.

                    The word “terrorist” was used, and getting into the etymology of the word is best exemplified by how large “non-terrorist” organizations operate exactly like large terrorist organizations.

        • Godric@lemmy.world
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          6 months ago

          Idk, I’m several drinks in atm, but you’d make big money picking cherries.

          *terrorists as labeled by the fucking mayor… a terrorist because they got warrants, trash, and a bullhorn being a public nuisance.

          Alos Warrants for making terroristic threats, illegal possession of firearms, parole violations, contempt of court

          Terrorists armed with a… gas generator (commence pearl clutching)

          And automatic weapons. You used the … to erase the automatic weapons part.

          what the actual fucking fuck did the Keystone Kops think would happen if they dropped explosives on the gas generator in hopes of “taking out the “rooftop bunker”” which was most likely the goddamned rooftop access. They had to know. And if the didn’t, they were criminally stupid.

          Wow, not knowing where people store their generators is the bar for criminal stupidity? I have a different bar

          and: 2A rights for everyone! “oh, only WASPy, good, christian tightey-whitey men, sorry - not you… When any minority holds a gun they’re obviously criminals.” and yes, I know there were warrants and shootouts in this case. But justice wasn’t served.

          Ah yes, story we hear every week outta murica, them white folks, shooting their automatic assault rifles at the cops and getting away with it

          /s

          Seriously, if you start a business picking cherries, I’d like to invest, I haven’t seen anyone so skilled since 2020

          • ramjambamalam@lemmy.ca
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            6 months ago

            Ah yes, story we hear every week outta murica, them white folks, shooting their automatic assault rifles at the cops and getting away with it

            I’m not saying it’s the same but the Bundy standoff comes to mind as a recent example where a buncha good ol’ white boys barricaded themselves in a compound, and they weren’t bombed. They didn’t fire upon cops but they did imply that they were ready to if they were raided.

            • FiniteBanjo@lemmy.today
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              6 months ago

              Everybody is in agreement that the cops grossly mishandled the situation on May 13th 1985, and it serves as a great argument for the demilitarization of police in the USA. The problem is some people in this forum want us to think this was a random unprompted massacre of ordinary people, which is pretty far off the mark.

          • Railing5132@lemmy.world
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            6 months ago

            A bit boozy myself, so here goes:

            1. criminals, not terrorists

            B) you called out the gas generator like it was some Lclandestine munition.

            1. getting a little racist there, aren’t cha?
            • Godric@lemmy.world
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              6 months ago
              1. Drink less than I am, please! See above for why they weren’t just people vibing at home while the cops decided they were criminals for existing, fuckheads had automatic weapons and were happy to use them

              B) Not sure what a generator has to do with Lclandestine munitions, or what those are

              1. What the fuck even? Go to bed bud
        • VirtualOdour@sh.itjust.works
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          6 months ago

          Ah yes murder all the police with militaristic fanatics then we’ll never have to worry about crime or corruption again! It literally can’t go wrong!

          • orrk@lemmy.world
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            6 months ago

            what, you think that cops are stopping crime and corruption? almost half the fucking federal inmates are in for drug possession XD, the great crime of getting baked