Health official forced to resign over MOVE cremations

Philadelphia’s top health official was compelled to resign Thursday after the city’s mayor said he learned partial human remains from the 1985 bombing of the headquarters of a Black organization had been cremated and disposed of without notifying family members.

Mayor Jim Kenney said Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas Farley decided to cremate and dispose of the remains of the MOVE bombing victims several years ago.

The announcement of Farley’s ouster came on the 36th anniversary of the MOVE bombing by design, after Kenney consulted victims’ family members. Among the 11 slain when police bombed the organization’s headquarters, causing a fire that spread to more than 60 row homes, were five children.

In a statement released by the mayor’s office, Farley said that in early 2017 he was told by the city’s medical examiner, Dr. Sam Gulino, that a box had been found containing materials related to MOVE bombing victims’ autopsies.

“In the box were bones and bone fragments, presumably from one or more of the victims,” Farley said.