PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Philadelphia’s health commissioner has resigned after it was revealed he authorized the cremation of MOVE bombing victims’ remains several years ago without notifying the family.
Mayor Jim Kenney announced Dr. Tom Farley’s resignation Thursday.
“Earlier this week, I learned of a very disturbing incident involving the Philadelphia Department of Public Health that occurred during the first term of our administration,” the mayor said in a statement.
“Farley disclosed that several years ago he learned of remains found by the Medical Examiner’s Office that belonged to victims of the 1985 MOVE bombing. Instead of fully identifying those remains and returning them to the family, he made a decision to cremate and dispose of them.
“This action lacked empathy for the victims, their family, and the deep pain that the MOVE bombing has brought to our city for nearly four decades.”
City officials said they are not sure which victims’ remains were in the medical examiner’s possession.
Apology
Farley apologized in a statement and said he profoundly regrets his decision.
He said in early 2017, the medical examiner informed him about “unclaimed personal effects of the deceased,” including a box of “bones and bone fragments, presumably from one or more of the victims.”
“The standard procedure for autopsies in the Medical Examiner’s office is, before releasing remains to the next of kin, to retain certain specimens in case they are needed for subsequent investigations,” Farley said in a statement. “After the investigations are complete, these specimens are disposed of, without notifying anyone. Believing that investigations related to the MOVE bombing had been completed more than 30 years earlier, and not wanting to cause more anguish for the families of the victims, I authorized [the medical examiner] to follow this procedure and dispose of the bones and bone fragments.
“I made this decision on my own, without notifying or consulting anyone in the Managing Director’s office or the Mayor’s office, and I take full responsibility for it.”
Public criticism
The remains of the 1985 MOVE victims have been the center of recent controversy. The Penn Museum had reportedly been in possession of some bones for decades, and remains had been handled by both the University of Pennsylvania and Princeton University.
The museum was already facing backlash for its collection of skulls of Black and Cuban Philadelphians, some formerly enslaved, from the early 19th century. Advocates demanded they receive a proper burial.
MOVE members said they have asked for the remains to be returned to them. Bones belonging to one victim were returned to the family on April 30.
Related
Farley’s resignation is effective immediately. Medical Examiner Dr. Sam Gulino has been placed on administrative leave, pending a full investigation.
Dr. Cheryl Bettigole will serve as the city’s acting health commissioner.
Farley served in the Kenney administration for more than five years. During that time, he took measures to reduce youth smoking and obesity, improve maternal mortality rates, lower overdose deaths due to opioids, and, of course, led the city’s response to COVID-19 for the past year.
A few days ago, Kenney said Farley likely saved thousands of lives with his coronavirus mitigation efforts.
Anniversary of bombing
Kenney said he learned about the cremation on Tuesday and immediately met with the Africa family’s legal counsel and asked how they wanted to proceed. The family requested this announcement be made today, on the 36th anniversary of the bombing.
Farley’s resignation comes exactly 36 years after the MOVE bombing, in which Philadelphia police dropped a bomb on the MOVE compound along Osage Avenue, killing six adults and five children. Fires spread across more than 60 West Philadelphia row homes over a three-block area.
Kenney promised the Africa family full transparency in the investigation.