Africa and his primarily
African-American followers adopted the surname "Africa", and in
1971, they collectively purchased a house and lived in it
communally. Their actions brought close scrutiny from the Philadelphia
police. In
1978, an armed confrontation with the
police ended peacefully, but the group reneged on a promise to relocate.
[5] When the police later attempted entry using a
bulldozer, one policeman was killed and several people were injured.
[6] Subsequently, MOVE moved to a new location, a row of
tenements, in
1985. Again, they were viewed as a
public nuisance. Ultimately, the
Philadelphia Police Department bombed the building in which the MOVE members lived. On
May 13,
1985, eleven MOVE members, including John Africa, died in the resulting fire.
[7] In
1996, in a
civil action in U.S.
federal court the jury ordered the City of Philadelphia and two former city officials to pay 1.5 million dollars to a survivor and relatives of two people killed in the attack. The
jury found that the city used
excessive force and violated the members'
constitutional protection against
unreasonable search and seizure.
[8] 
