Gregore J. Sambor | |
---|---|
Commissioner of the Philadelphia Police Department | |
In office 1984 –November 1985 | |
Preceded by | Morton B. Solomon |
Succeeded by | Robert F. Armstrong (interim) |
Personal details | |
Born | February 22,1928 |
Died | September 15,2015 87) | (aged
Spouse | Mary Sambor |
Children | Gregore Sambor,Glenn Sambor,Nicholas Sambor,Marie Sambor |
Occupation | Police Officer |
Gregore J. Sambor (February 22,1928 - September 15,2015) was an American Police Commissioner of the Philadelphia Police Department from 1984 to 1985. He had a major role in the 1985 bombing of MOVE,in which six adults and five children died after he told firefighters to stand down and "let the fire burn". [1] Sambor argued the group was a terrorist organization. [2]
On May 13,1985,nearly 500 police officers moved in to execute arrest warrants on MOVE's members. [3] Police commissioner Sambor read a long speech to the members of the organization. When they didn't respond,police moved in to forcibly remove them from the premises,leading to an armed standoff. [4] After the police used over ten thousand rounds of ammunition,Sambor ordered the compound be breached. [5] Two breaching charges made from an FBI-supplied explosive were dropped on the roof of the building,which ignited the fuel of a gasoline-powered generator there. Ramona Africa,the only adult survivor,reported that police shot at anyone attempting to escape the fire. [6] In the end,11 MOVE members,including five children,were killed in the blaze and 250 civilians were left homeless. [7]
Sambor resigned as police commissioner in November of that year. He said later that he believed Mayor W. Wilson Goode would have fired him by the end of the year if he had not resigned. [8] His resignation came less than a week after hearings into the bombing and fire concluded,during which his actions were portrayed as hasty and ill-considered,and evidence first emerged that he had ordered the fire department to let the fire continue to burn. [9]
MOVE,originally the Christian Movement for Life,is a communal organization that advocates for nature laws and natural living,founded in 1972 in Philadelphia,Pennsylvania,United States,by John Africa. The name,styled in all capital letters,is not an acronym. MOVE lived in a communal setting in West Philadelphia,abiding by philosophies of anarcho-primitivism. The group combined revolutionary ideology,similar to that of the Black Panthers,with work for animal rights.
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Francis Lazarro Rizzo was an American police officer and politician. He served as commissioner of the Philadelphia Police Department (PPD) from 1968 to 1971 and mayor of Philadelphia from 1972 to 1980. He was a member of the Democratic Party throughout the entirety of his career in public office. He switched to the Republican Party in 1986 and campaigned as a Republican for the final five years of his life.
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The Philadelphia Police Department is the police agency responsible for law enforcement and investigations within the City of Philadelphia,Pennsylvania. The PPD is one of the oldest municipal police agencies,fourth largest police force and sixth largest non-federal law enforcement agency in the United States. Since records were first kept in 1828,at least 289 PPD officers have died in the line of duty.
John Africa,born Vincent Leaphart, was the founder of MOVE,a Philadelphia-based,predominantly black organization active from the early 1970s and still active. He and his followers were killed at a residential home,which served as the headquarters of MOVE,in a fire after the Philadelphia Police Department bombed the house with C4-explosive,and deliberately let the fire rage until it was out of control following a standoff and firefight between MOVE and police.
Cobbs Creek is a neighborhood located in the West Philadelphia section of Philadelphia,Pennsylvania,United States,named for the creek which forms part of Philadelphia's western border. Cobbs Creek is generally bounded by Market Street to the north,Baltimore Avenue to the south,52nd Street to the east,and the border of Upper Darby along Cobbs Creek to the West.
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Let the Fire Burn is a 2013 documentary film about the events leading up to and surrounding a 1985 stand-off between the black liberation group MOVE and the Philadelphia Police Department. The film is directed and produced by Jason Osder and was released by Zeitgeist Films in October 2013.
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The 1985 MOVE bombing,locally known by its date,May 13,1985,was the destruction of residential homes in the Cobbs Creek neighborhood of Philadelphia,Pennsylvania,United States,by the Philadelphia Police Department during a standoff with MOVE,a black liberation organization. Philadelphia police dropped two explosive devices from a helicopter onto the roof of a house occupied by MOVE. The Philadelphia Police Department allowed the resulting fire to burn out of control,destroying 61 previously evacuated neighboring homes over two city blocks and leaving 250 people homeless. Six adults and five children were killed in the attack,with one adult and one child surviving. A lawsuit in federal court found that the city used excessive force and violated constitutional protections against unreasonable search and seizure.
On October 26,2020,Walter Wallace Jr.,a 27-year-old African-American man,was fatally shot by Philadelphia police officers Sean Matarazzo and Thomas Munz in Cobbs Creek,Philadelphia,Pennsylvania. The two officers arrived in the area to respond to a domestic dispute. When they arrived,Wallace walked out of his house carrying a knife. The two officers backed away while telling him to drop the knife shortly before they each fired several rounds at Wallace,hitting him in the shoulder and chest. He later died from his wounds in the hospital. Wallace's family stated that Wallace was having a mental health crisis.
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