美国国家公共电台 NPR--Old wounds reopen after report details mishandling of remains of MOVE bombing victims

Old wounds reopen after report details mishandling of remains¹ of MOVE bombing victims

Transcript²

Human remains from the Philadelphia bombing of the MOVE house in 1985 have yet to be released. The bombing left eleven people dead. (Story aired on All Things Considered on July 6, 2022.)

NATIONAL

The report on mishandling of remains of MOVE bombing victims has reopened old wounds

A MARTINEZ, HOST:

Last year, news broke that the city of Philadelphia and local universities had mishandled the remains of people who were killed during the 1985 MOVE bombing in Philadelphia. An investigation³ into why that happened has opened old wounds, and it leaves many questions unanswered. From member station WHYY, here's Kenny Cooper.

KENNY COOPER, BYLINE⁴: It has been 37 years since the Philadelphia Police Department dropped a bomb on a home where the Black liberation group MOVE was based.

(SOUNDBITE OF EXPLOSION)

COOPER: The Philadelphia Fire Department let the resulting blaze engulf⁵ 61 homes. Eleven people, including five children, died. Lionell Dotson's two sisters, Katricia and Zanetta, were among them.

LIONELL DOTSON: For some reason, the city won't let me put it to an end.

COOPER: The MOVE bombing devastated⁶ Dotson's family. He has since moved away from Philadelphia to North Carolina.

Last year, the University of Pennsylvania and Princeton University were reported to have withheld⁷ and studied the remains of child victims without the families' knowledge. The city's medical examiner's office was also in hot water for the mishandling of a separate box of MOVE remains. Philadelphia's top health official resigned, and the city tapped two outside law firms to lead an investigation into what went wrong. That independent report arrived in June. Though it had a huge scope, there were limitations. Several key witnesses refused to cooperate. Dotson says it didn't offer any revelations.

DOTSON: I feel like even in their death, there's no peace.

COOPER: For example, the report failed to explain why the medical examiner's office chose not to release the remains to family members. But it did find the initial 1985 investigation into the scene to be grossly inadequate⁸ and biased⁹. Keir Bradford-Grey served as one of the outside attorneys leading the investigation.

KEIR BRADFORD-GREY: I think that this is so important to understand the role that each governmental agency played in either covering up or not really reporting truthfully and ethically¹⁰ what happened so that the families still cannot get the justice that they feel that they were denied.

COOPER: One of the main report recommendations was that the city change the manners of death to homicides.

CHERYL BETTIGOLE: We do agree with that recommendation. These are not folks who died by accident; these are people who were killed.

COOPER: Philadelphia Health Commissioner¹¹ Dr. Cheryl Bettigole says the report is a road map forward. But she cautioned that some recommendations, like having forensic¹² investigators¹³ on site at every homicide, might be out of reach due to staffing limitations. She says what is most important at this time is an apology.

BETTIGOLE: Our medical examiner's office should never have run that way. I really want to apologize to the families of the victims because this is incredibly traumatic for them.

COOPER: In a statement announcing the report, Mayor Jim Kenney said that he is hopeful that it provides closure to family members. Bakari Sellers is one of the lawyers representing Dotson's family. He says the disregard for the remains of Black life made his skin crawl and motivated him to get involved. Now he's exploring who might be liable.

BAKARI SELLERS: Not only were these individuals targeted, of course, in the MOVE bombing, but their remains were treated with such disrespect by all involved.

COOPER: While the city has begun having conversations with the families about returning the remaining human body parts once they are all identified, Dotson says 37 years is long enough. His sisters need to be laid to rest.

DOTSON: Tell the city to just fess up and release my sisters' remains already. That hurts. I want my sisters. I'm sorry, but it hurts (crying).

COOPER: His attorneys believe that egregious¹⁴ civil rights violations¹⁵ have been committed.

For NPR News, I'm Kenny Cooper.

1 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 engulf   

vt.吞没，吞食

参考例句：

• Floodwaters engulf a housing project in the Bajo Yuna community in central Dominican Republic.洪水吞没了多米尼加中部巴杰优那社区的一处在建的住房工程项目。
• If we are not strong enough to cover all the minds up,then they will engulf us,and we are in danger.如果我们不够坚强来抵挡大众的意念，就会有被他们吞没的危险。

6 devastated   

v.彻底破坏( devastate的过去式和过去分词)；摧毁；毁灭；在感情上（精神上、财务上等）压垮adj.毁坏的；极为震惊的

参考例句：

• The bomb devastated much of the old part of the city. 这颗炸弹炸毁了旧城的一大片地方。
• His family is absolutely devastated. 他的一家感到极为震惊。

7 withheld   

withhold过去式及过去分词

参考例句：

• I withheld payment until they had fulfilled the contract. 他们履行合同后，我才付款。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• There was no school play because the principal withheld his consent. 由于校长没同意，学校里没有举行比赛。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 inadequate   

adj.(for,to)不充足的，不适当的

参考例句：

• The supply is inadequate to meet the demand.供不应求。
• She was inadequate to the demands that were made on her.她还无力满足对她提出的各项要求。

9 biased   

a.有偏见的

参考例句：

• a school biased towards music and art 一所偏重音乐和艺术的学校
• The Methods: They employed were heavily biased in the gentry's favour. 他们采用的方法严重偏袒中上阶级。

10 ethically   

adv.在伦理上，道德上

参考例句：

• Ethically , we have nothing to be ashamed about . 从伦理上说，我们没有什么好羞愧的。
• Describe the appropriate action to take in an ethically ambiguous situation. 描述适当行为采取在一个道德地模棱两可的情况。

11 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

12 forensic   

adj.法庭的，雄辩的

参考例句：

• The report included his interpretation of the forensic evidence.该报告包括他对法庭证据的诠释。
• The judge concluded the proceeding on 10:30 Am after one hour of forensic debate.经过近一个小时的法庭辩论后，法官于10时30分宣布休庭。

13 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 egregious   

adj.非常的，过分的

参考例句：

• When it comes to blatant lies,there are none more egregious than budget figures.谈到公众谎言，没有比预算数字更令人震惊的。
• What an egregious example was here!现摆着一个多么触目惊心的例子啊。

15 violations   

违反( violation的名词复数 )； 冒犯； 违反（行为、事例）； 强奸

参考例句：

• This is one of the commonest traffic violations. 这是常见的违反交通规则之例。
• These violations of the code must cease forthwith. 这些违犯法规的行为必须立即停止。