September 2nd
Forty-eight years ago today, on September 2, 1977, six MOVE members were arrested on federal firearms and explosives charges.
The day before, a grand jury indicted ten MOVE members. And some of these names are going to be brand-new — even to the most dialed-in listeners of my podcast, including the ones who do their own extra-credit digging.
You’re gonna need a bigger MOVE Bingo Card, my friends.
This grand jury indictment triggered federal warrants and an FBI wanted bulletin for Vincent Leaphart (aka John Africa), Alphonso Robbins, and Charles Sutton Morris, who had already fled Philadelphia to evade arrest.
The six arrested on September 2nd weren’t the bullhorn-and-rifles rank and file of MOVE. They were members assigned an “underground activity” — what the group called M-1. While the press zeroed in on the profanity-laden tirades and bizarre beliefs, the M-1s were carrying out Vincent Leaphart’s mission to “overthrow the rotten-ass system” — which in practice meant stockpiling weapons, transporting explosives, and plotting destruction and death.
MOVErs arrested:
Michael Smith (placed on $5K bail with 10% cash & committed in default)
Gregory Howard (placed on $50K bail with surety and committed in default)
Anthony Beaman (former high school teacher, placed on $5K bail with 10% cash and committed in default)
Samuel Sanders (placed on $25K bail with 10% cash and committed in default)
Albert Myers (released on $10K O/R* bail)
Jeanne Champagne (pregnant, released on $5k O/R* bail)
* O/R = Own Recognizance
📌 These are MOVE members that the group never mentions in its own narrative. Why? Because acknowledging them would blow up (literally) the public-facing myth perpetuated by MOVE that they were not violent, all of their confrontations were persecution by “the state”, and thus all of their convicted members were political prisoners (Mumia included). Bombs? What bombs?
In his post-arrest interview with the ATF, MOVE member Samuel Sanders admitted to making the improvised [explosives] powder and acquiring chemicals. He also implicated Gregory Howard, Alphonso Robbins and Vincent Leaphart in the conspiracy.
MOVE member Albert Myers was arrested at his residence and consented to a search resulting in the seizure of two remote control [airplane] units (used for remote detonation), a copy of the Anarchist Cookbook, and a notebook containing MOVE literature and a threatening message concerning the U.S. President (Jimmy Carter).
MOVE members William “Whitney aka Whit,” Smith, and Donald Glassey had been arrested in July with the very explosives listed in the indictment. Both chose to cooperate with authorities in exchange for probation. Both declined the offered witness protection program. Two years later, Smith’s body was found floating on the banks of the Schuylkill River.
MOVE members Gregory Howard and Samuel Sanders, alleged leaders in the weapons-and-explosives conspiracy, were tried, convicted, and sentenced to a little less than 3 years.
Prosecutors decided in December 1977 not to pursue charges against Smith, Myers, and Champagne.
Gregory Howard was released from prison in March 1979 and went back to living with MOVE members in Philadelphia.
MOVE member Anthony Beaman jumped bail after his release, making him a fugitive. Arrested in 1980, Beaman pleaded guilty to all charges in the superseding indictment and served less than 18 months in prison.
After 3 1/2 years with no leads, the ATF suddenly knew to drive five hours north to Rochester, NY, where Vincent, Alphonso, Morris, and the “cult’s inner circle” had been hiding. Agents set up surveillance, devised an arrest plan, and on May 13, 1981, took 8 MOVE members into custody, including their “God,” Vincent Leaphart.
Charles Sutton Morris (aka Beawolf) was nowhere to be found and was never apprehended; in 1984, the warrant was dropped and the case closed. I’ve long wondered whether Morris or Moses tipped off the feds to Vincent’s hideout in exchange for witness protection. 🧐
Michael Davis (aka Mike Africa Jr.)’s 2024 “memoir” 🙄 claims that Charles Sutton Morris and Robert Moses dodged the Rochester raid because they’d already fled to Mexico—supposedly hiding there for years as Black Americans who didn’t speak Spanish and had zero local connections, then returning once “the coast was clear.” Like much of what Mike spins about MOVE and his Great Cuncle Vincent (Leaphart), it appears that his storytelling is in pursuit of personal gain 💰🎬— not historical accuracy or truth.
I have yet to conclude with any certainty that anyone other than Jeanne Champagne fully left MOVE, or whether the rest just went further underground — or were simply “on call” as needed throughout the years, like a MOVE version of the National Guard. And that would track: Vincent himself served six years in the National Guard after three years in the Korean War (this is just one of the many fact-check fails in the CBC podcast Africas vs. America).
I did manage to have a lengthy phone call with Albert Myers in 2022. He told me that he was still in contact with MOVE members, specifically Alphonso Robbins (aka Mo Africa) and Jeanette (Knighton) Patton (aka Pam Africa).
Myers also told me more than once to “leave this story alone.”
I responded: “Yeah, that’s not going to happen.” 🤓
👀 For more on the federal bomb trial of MOVE leader, Vincent Leaphart and Alphonso Robbins, check out my articles from July 16–23, 2025.
🎧 To hear the story of indicted MOVE member–turned–defector Jeanne Champagne, in her own words, check out her podcast interview.
You're blowing my mind over here! 🤯