This document was referenced in the most recent episode of Murder at Ryan's Run, Episode 6: The Meetings. This is a letter sent by MOVE to US Airways in February of 2000 in an attempt to get John Gilbride fired from his job so that he could no longer fight for custody of his son. Alberta and Ria Africa also had MOVE members and supporters repeatedly call US Airways in attempts to get John fired. This was part of a harassment and intimidation campaign that lasted for years.
Two very important quotes from this document have been highlighted on the first page: "We coming after John Gilbride with MOVE strategy and anybody that gets in our way, anybody that shields or tries to stand in the way between MOVE and this child abusing maniac, you had best reflect on the MOVE Organization's history" and "MOVE don't believe in violence but we do believe in self-defense. John Gilbride has threatened our sister and her child and MOVE is coming after his ass." This is immediately followed by the claim that "this isn't a threat." This is similar to the claim made in Ramona Africa's letter to Steven Spielberg. Issuing threats and immediately following the threat with the claim that it's not a threat is a consistent maneuver in the MOVE playbook going all the way back to the mid-1970s.
In this letter, MOVE acknowledges that John lived in a MOVE house for ten years. At various points, high-ranking MOVE members have claimed that they didn't really know John and have acted as if he were a peripheral figure, but this statement acknowledges that that is untrue. Toward the end of the letter MOVE even uses John's involvement with MOVE as a reason that John should be fired. Their argument is essentially that US Air customers would be uncomfortable knowing that a man who was involved in a revolutionary group such as MOVE has access to the belly of the airplane. Below MOVE's letter to US Air, I've also posted a letter John wrote to his supervisors at US Air warning them that the custody case he was involved in may spill over into his work life, that he has no control over this, and that his estranged wife will likely try to destroy his livelihood.
(Click on the images to magnify)
No comments:
Post a Comment