In May 1977, after escalating confrontations, MOVE members appeared on the platform of their Powelton Village house with weapons, demanding the release of imprisoned members and an end to police harassment. Mayor Frank Rizzo — who had promised to be "so tough on crime he'd make Attila the Hun look like a faggot" — obtained court orders and, in March 1978, sealed off a four-block perimeter, cutting water and food in an attempt to starve the house out.
The blockade lasted nearly two months and cost the city over a million dollars before a negotiated agreement in May 1978: MOVE surrendered its weapons and agreed to vacate the house within ninety days, while the city agreed to release jailed members. The truce did not hold — MOVE, viewing the deal as coerced, stayed past the deadline, and the city moved toward forcible eviction.