Reply #32: the official report was the trial - maybe you should look into stuff like facts

[TorchTheWitch]

and not the freakish blatant wildass contradictory lies of Ramona Africa and the rest of her cult.

Since you obviously have absolutely no idea what you're talking about, and have just become enamored with Ramona the Minister of Propaganda for MOVE, I'll clue you in on a just a sample of the actual facts presented at trial and that the jury heartily agreed with beyond a reasonable doubt. Keep in mind that pretty much the entire episode was filmed and though we didn't get to see any of that in the news (graphic stuff like that wasn't shown in those days) you better believe the jury saw it. Keep in mind also that this is the 1978 episode we're talking about here since for some bizzaro reason there's people here that can't seem to differentiate between the two incidents... keep that in mind, indeed - MOVE did this shit TWICE.

Prosecutors used both eyewitness testimony (some of whom were Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News reporters and cameraman) and video that showed MOVE members fired first through a basement window as police tried to break through into the basement where the MOVE members had barricaded themselves with their guns and their kids. Officer Stewart was operating a water cannon shooting water through one of the windows when he was shot in the first barrage that also hit Ofcs. Ramp and Krause. Ofc. Hessen was shot while going to Ramp's aid. In the video it can be seen that bullets coming from the basement of the MOVE house slice through the water spray which indicates where the bullets came from and what direction they traveled.

Ramp was on the sidewalk facing the house when he was struck by a bullet at the base of his neck in the area of his left collarbone. He was crouched down and hunched over at the waist in a classic firing position when he was shot which caused him to be thrown onto his back. Kitty Caparella of the Philadelphia Daily News witnessed Ramp getting shot from a third floor apartment window along with Daily News photographer Norman Lono who was also hiding in the apartment and photographed the incident. Both testified at trial.

Think about that. Ramp was facing the house when he was shot in the front of his body while the only people doing any shooting in that direction HAD to come from the house toward him and his fellow officers. Unless you have a REALLY crazy magic bullet theory he couldn't have been shot by any of his fellow officers. In fact, it was shown conclusively in court that where Ramp was shot in the base of his neck and the wound trajectory of the bullet through his body considering that he was facing the house and crouched down and hunched over at the waist the moment he was hit that the shot had to have been fired from the basement window of the MOVE house. This is the "downward" trajectory concluded from the autopsy meaning down through his body from the bullet entrance at the base of his neck. Had he been standing upright when he was shot an autopsy could conclude the this wound trajectory indicated he was shot down on from above. Yet eyewitnesses and film prove the physical position his body was in when he was shot.

Further, Anthony L. Paul, the civilian ballistics expert testified that tests showed that a .223-caliber Ruger rifle found inside the MOVE house was the weapon that was used to shoot Ramp as well as two of the other officers. That weapon was one of the weapons taken from the house afterward along with two .45-caliber semi-automatic pistols, two other .223-caliber Ruger carbines/rifles, two 12 gauge shotguns, two .30-caliber carbines, and a .765-caliber Argentine Mauser.

Even further, a palm print belonging to Phil Africa was found on a federal firearms purchase form of the Ruger used to kill Ofc. Ramp as well as two of the other officers that nailed him as the purchaser.

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/92093604.html
How about doing a little reading from the Philadelphia Inquirer's reporting of the incident at the time and take a good look at the photos. Note that one of those photos shows Ramp lying on his back after having been shot just as eyewitnesses testified. Read all the articles particularly the last one that describes things prior to the incident.

Read also Kitty Caparella's most recent article here...
http://www.philly.com/dailynews/special/20100506_Cops_death_in_78_clash_was_a_spark.html#axzz0nvWqlBBN
((GRAPHIC WARNING: photo #7 from that article is *highly* disturbing))

There is no escaping that what the MOVE members did that day was evil beyond belief... note especially in the original Inquirer article at that time that before they started firing they let their DOGS out of the house while keeping their damn CHILDREN with them as HUMAN SHIELDS. Over FIFTY dogs came out of that house before they started firing and they made sure that ALL THE DOGS GOT OUT TO SAFETY THEY DENIED THEIR KIDS! And it wasn't enough that they used their children as human shields ONCE, they DID IT AGAIN in the 1985 incident and it cost all but one of those poor children their lives!

And WHY? Because they wanted to abuse their children and their neighborhood to their hearts content. They lived and forced their kids to live in abominable squalor with no plumbing, no running water and no electricity, shitting and pissing and throwing their garbage into their yard to rot along with all the shit and piss from the over FIFTY dogs that lived with them and all the rats, roaches and other vermin and diseases it attracted. They denied their kids even the most rudimentary education, denied them healthcare, denied them decent food, clothing, personal hygiene and used them as human shields to either watch their friends and parents die before their eyes while being terrified for their own lives or die themselves.

This is what Ramona Africa is partially responsible for and what she's grossly been lying about for decades. This is the kind of person she is and what she was deeply involved in doing. And here's something else about her that bears taking serious note of... for all her years of ranting and lying and supposedly fighting for the jailed cretins she insanely considers as innocents - when it came to the MOVE Commission that investigated the 1985 incident she refused to testify. When it came to the Attorney General's grand jury investigation that could have found criminal wrongdoing on the part of the city she refused to testify. The only time she DID testify was in the civil case she brought against the city that netted her a nice chunk of change. Think about that. The two biggest opportunities she had to speak out on behalf of herself and her "family" and have it MATTER in the interest of justice that she still insists she fights for she blew off as too unimportant to bother with.

And so much for that "back to nature" philosophy of living in squalor without plumbing, running water, electricity, etc. that was supposed to have been so vital to them they had to kill people including having caused their own kids to be killed for. Since Ramona got that money from the city MOVE has lived in a very nice tidy neighborhood in a very nice tidy house with all the upper middle class comforts money can buy including a swimming pool, tv's, stereo, computers, video games, cellphones, etc., etc.... oh, but the kids still aren't taught to read or write. And what's the excuse for this complete about-face on that philosophy they killed and caused their kids to be killed for? "You have to use the system to destroy the system." Yes, indeedy. Just like if you want to save the whales you kill them all. Or if you want to keep Repubs out of office you vote for them. Or if you want to grow your hair long you shave your head. Makes perfect sense... at least it does to Ramona Africa the Minister of Propaganda of her whackadoodle MOVE cult.