Friday, April 30, 2010

An Appeal To The Media

(John Gilbride)
For Immediate Release:

April 30, 2010

Remember John Gilbride while remembering The 25th Anniversary of the MOVE “Bombing”

(On Sept 27th, 2002 John Gilbride was murdered, found shot to death in the front seat of his car. The authorities and media called it an “execution”. His killers have yet to be found and brought to justice. At the time of this death, John was in a highly contentious legal fight with the MOVE Organization who had branded the 34 year old father as an “enemy” and had worked to quite literally destroy his life.)

This upcoming May marks the twenty fifth anniversary of the “bombing” of the MOVE house on Osage Avenue . It marks a quarter of a century since 11 people needlessly lost their lives and the hopes and dreams of 60 homeowners disappeared amidst flames and smoke. It is undoubtedly a tragic moment in Philadelphia ’s history and it absolutely needs to be remembered.

However, I would be remiss if I did not call the media’s attention to the still “unsolved” murder of former MOVE supporter, John Gilbride. In 2002 John Gilbride was shot in his car the day before he was supposed to have his first un-supervised visit with the child that he fathered with MOVE leader, Alberta Africa.

It was a visit that had been years in the making and this was not John’s first attempt at having an un-supervised visit with his only child. He had tried in the past, but had been stymied by Alberta Africa and MOVE’s dedicated members and supporters. It was a visit that MOVE swore to the media, to the public, to anyone who would listen, that would not be allowed. John would never be left alone with his son was the word that MOVE spread across the internet, their bullhorn, and on the airwaves.

True to their word, MOVE made sure that John did not see his son. I have never doubted this. Not for a second in past seven years have I not believed with all of my being that MOVE was responsible for gunning John down as he sat in his car having just returned home from work. From the moment I received the call that John was dead I knew that my “friends” that my “family” in MOVE were responsible. Like John, it took me time to fully extricate myself from MOVE and like John I made it out. The thing of course that separates us is that I am still alive and he is not.

Through my work at http://antimove.blogspot.com and other forums I have tried to give John back the voice that was taken from him and I have attempted to keep his memory alive. I am currently working on a book that I hope will further shed light on MOVE and the war that they waged against John prior to his death. The book will expose the world of an authoritarian cult that tramples upon the lives of its adherents and has shown itself to be violent and cruel.

I encourage you to look into John’s murder and to include details of his death in your coverage of the sad and tragic events of May 13th 1985.



About antimove.blogspot.com

Tony Allen left MOVE officially in 2004. That year the Philadelphia Inquirer ran a front page story about his time in MOVE and what led him to leave the group for good. The following year Tony started a blog http://antimove.blogspot.com and later a website that sought to disseminate factual information about MOVE in an effort to shed light on a group that he viewed as fanatical and dangerous. In spite of threats and MOVE’s best efforts to tarnish his name and reputation, Tony has persisted in his efforts to expose MOVE for the authoritarian and violent enterprise that it is.

Tony has also worked to shed light upon the circumstances of the murder of former MOVE supporter John Gilbride and he continues to insist that MOVE is responsible for the man’s killing.

For more information go to http://antimove.blogspot.com or the Wikipedia page on MOVE at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MOVE

Please feel free to contact Tony with any questions.

Tony Allen

Phone 757.619.1079

Email sept27th2002@yahoo.com

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