An evangelical preacher led nearly a thousand followers from the United States deep into the jungles of South America. ; Well, how about you? Is the best thing ever happened to you? ; They would build a new community free of oppression and violence. It was to be their paradise on earth. I wanted to leave as soon as I got there.
I was in an armed encampment. ; But outsiders threatened to expose the dark side of their leader. ; We are going into Jonestown. And if any of your family members want to come home, then by God, we’re going to bring them home. ; Are you people going to leave us? ; They’re killing everyone. In one day, two worlds collided and paradise was lost.
; Know that you have never ; never been loved so much as I love you right now. The people’s temple was a wonderful mosaic ; of the whole spectum of humanity. ; It was a dream that died on November 18th, 1978. That the threat of mass suicide was
quite real. Now this morning, there are fresh reports. ; Jones ordered a mass suicide. 914 people were murdered or drank Kool-Aid laced with poison. ; A lot of the children were crying and uh he was telling them not to tell the children that they were dying, not to tell them it was painful and that people had to die with dignity.
In November 1978, reporters around the world broke the news that Jim Jones and more than 900 of his followers died. By the late 1960s and early ‘7s, the streets of America erupted in violence and civil strife. The war in Vietnam, civil rights marches, and political assassinations played out on television. immediately.
Everyone disperse immediately. ; Out of this turmoil, thousands of Americans flocked to hear the sermons of a charismatic preacher named Jim Jones. A fiery ortor, Jones’s early speeches were a mixture of socialist ideals and Christian redemption. If there was anything universal about the temple experience and what it was that drew people, it was on some level we were all wanting to belong.
Some turn to the temple because they need help. Others want to serve humanity. Whatever they need, Jim Jones and his people’s temple seem to have it. ; The only way it’s going to get better is through us and what we can do in the world. and and that was everything from gradual social change to violent revolution to um cleaning up after nuclear fallout.
Jim Jones claimed special powers to heal the sick and dying. Staged healings were a popular attraction at temple meetings. You’ll see him walk on this lake like it was everyone. ; A guy like my dad found out what you wanted to hear and see and showed it to you. Whatever you were looking for or wherever you were running from or running toward, Dad had an uncanny ability to hook into that.
; It’s exhilarating and very attractive. Once you get hooked by that, it’s really hard to get unhooked. As his popularity grew, Jim Jones preached less about the Bible and more about social activism. He called himself a prophet, a savior who would guide, protect, and watch over his followers. ; I want you to be like I am.
I want you to become what I am. I want you to enjoy the fearlessness that I have, the courage that I have, the compassion that I have, the love that I have, the allencompassing mercy that I am. I want you to be what I am and something greater. ; Jim Jones’s devoted followers referred to him as father. Many signed over their paychecks, possessions, even their homes.
But at the height of his power, a darker side of Jim Jones emerged. Former Temple members accused Jones of physical and sexual abuse, mind control, and forced druggings. In 1977, as media interests grew, Jim Jones and hundreds of his supporters left San Francisco, California. They set out for Guyana, determined to build a new community in the South American country.
In the middle of the jungle, 150 mi from the capital of Georgetown, People’s Temple built what was to be a socialist paradise on Earth. They called it Jonestown after their leader. Because of father’s example here in Guyana, we’re building equipment and doing things to feed hungry people and set up a little town, an actual community or a country of our own where we can live the way we like to live with our own lifestyle, not to be interfered with people from the outside and to help starving masses of the world.
; As the allegations in the United States intensified, temple members continued to flock to the remote outpost. labeling the attacks as a government conspiracy to topple People’s Temple. Jones and many of his followers denied the charges. ; It’s the most beautiful place I’ve ever been in all my life.
There’s so many wonderful things about it. ; This is a beautiful place here and it’s it’s fun over here. It’s really good. ; I do not want to go back in any way, shape, or form to uh to the States. I can’t help but say that none of this would have been possible had it not been for Jim Jones. My father, his entire existence lay in the hands of those who perceived him.
I think people need to understand that every hour of the day, Jim Jones thought he was a fraud. He knew he was a bad guy. He knew he was a sick guy. He just didn’t want anybody else to know. White KN. ; White knife. Everybody report to the pavilion. ; White knight. ; Vern Gosny had joined People’s Temple in 1974 and had been living in Jonestown for 8 months.
; The term white knight was a term used for like an extreme emergency. there would be a siren or um an announcement to come to the pavilion immediately and it was a life and death situation. It was something where the community was being threatened and we had to make an immediate decision about a course of action and it would usually be all of the night.
White Knights were used by Jim Jones to create an atmosphere of fear and desperation amongst his followers. The White Knights sometimes included rehearsals for mass suicide, which Jones considered a test of faith and loyalty. I am the greatest friend that you will ever have. And I’ll try on every level to protect this community.
Are you with me? ; You with me? There were people with guns and rifles surrounding the uh assembly, people that I knew for years uh with guns, and they weren’t pointed outward, they were pointed inward. And so there was a sense of an armed encampment. So I must warn you again and again to be together with the community. ; Jim, ; you’ve been at it for hours.
You’re exhausted. They’re exhausted and afraid. ; Let them go to sleep. All right, go on. Go on. Back to bed. After the death of his wife, Vern Gosny arrived in Jonestown with his four-year-old son. ; I was very vulnerable. I decided I was going to go to Jonestown and they were going to make me be a good socialist.
whatever I was lacking within myself would be instilled in me by living in Jonestown. I wanted to leave as soon as I got there. I was not free to leave, nor was anyone. I had confided in um my roommate that I wanted to leave and that was taking a huge huge risk. He had at one time attempted to escape and he was punished so severely that he was literally frightened out of his mind.
We’re going to die here, man. We’re going to die here. On November 14th, 1978, US Congressman Leo J. Ryan along with his aid Jackie Spear flew to Guyana to investigate allegations of abuse within the temple. The delegation included relatives who were determined to see that their loved ones were free to come and go as they pleased.
Jim Jones considered the group a direct threat, bent on his and the movement’s destruction. 14 relatives, some former Temple members who spoke out against Jones, accompanied Ryan. Members of the US media covered the trip, including Don Harris from NBC, an American television network, and Tim Ryderman, a reporter on assignment for the San Francisco Examiner.
Jim Jones initially presented People’s Temple as an extraordinary institution and he was someone who was viewed as a little eccentric uh because he went around with bodyguards and he wore dark glasses whether it was the sun was out or not. ; Think he’s got something to hide? ; What do you think? You spoke with him? Yeah, on the radio once figures we’re out to get him.
; Congressman Ryan’s trip was designed to find out whether allegations from ex members were true, that Jim Jones controlled the members through disciplinary beatings, forcing them to turn over their property and in some cases custody of their children. and whether he was threatening people with death if they would leave the organization.
; Folks, folks, uh, we’re about to land in Georgetown. It’s been a long road for many of you. your your loved ones are down there and I just want to let you know that we’re going to do everything we can to make sure they’re safe, they’re happy, and they’re being well looked after. ; In other words, we still don’t have an official invite.
; Let me tell you something right now. not as your congressman, but as your friend. We’re going into Jonestown, and if any of your family members want to come home, well, by God, we’re going to bring them home. Congressman, I just wanted to say to thank you. This wouldn’t have happened without you. ; May I? ; Oh, sure.
She’s going to be 22 in a week. ; You always hope yours are going to turn out all right. ; Your ex? ; Yeah. She was Linda when I knew her. Now she’s Sharon. Jones made her do that. You know what? He knew this other girl called Linda. Didn’t like her. So now no one can be called Linda. Well, don’t you worry about a thing, Sherwin.
Everything’s going to be just fine. Sherwin Harris was attempting to visit his daughter Leanne, who was living in Jonestown. People’s Temple was something that started out apparently to be a good thing and just turned into a nightmare. In 1978, my daughter was 21 years old. My daughter Leanne was brought into the People’s Temple by her mother who was one of the initial members.
I had what I considered a strange relationship with my daughter. There was always a distance between us. There was always something strange going on. It was clearly, you know, dangerous situation. At this point, we knew that guns had been transmitted there. We knew what their attitudes were. We knew that they were talking that they were Marxist and revolutionaries and people that acted brutally towards their own members.
So I don’t think there was any illusions on any of our parts. The promise of Guyana was cloaked in religious terms. It was the promised land, the land of milk and honey, the land where we’re going to uh build a society that’s really just. ; We work from sun up to sun down. We ate rice three times a day. It’s it’s hard to really convey the remoteness of that place.
There was no means of communication with the outside world. There wasn’t like, “Oh, let me run a mile to go to to the phone. There’s no phone. There’s no telephones. There’s no televisions. There’s no nothing.” I think it’s difficult to express to people who don’t have this kind of experience that uh oh well, why didn’t you leave? It’s so horrible.
It’s so terrible. How could you put yourself in that position? When actually we were working for a cause that we believed in. It’s like taking people to the limit and then moving that line and then moving that line and then moving that line and wanting so desperately to believe in the dream and not seeing that the dream has become a nightmare.
; A handful of Temple members were permitted to form a basketball team. Amongst them was Jim Jones’s 19-year-old son, Steven. Days before the arrival of the Ryan delegation, Steven and the basketball team left for Georgetown to play a series of games against the Gy national squad. Dad was worried about the basketball team leaving and going into Georgetown.
He knew the congressman was coming. I’m sure he feared that we might turn against him. And fortunately, mom saw that happening. And mom had really made this her cause to get us out of there. ; You have in your hands the opportunity to make or break Jonestown, but you have to show a lot of character. A lot of character and grace. I’ve seen tremendous growth in you, Stephen.
Now, what you want to do is when they score a goal, you um give a little clap and you you run right back to your boat. All right. Did you hear that? ; Now remember boys, when the other team scores, you just give them a little clap. Just like that. A little clap. ; Believe me, fellas. I had a little clap in my day.
; Don’t let him provoke you. He’s trying to find a reason to keep you from going. Please be the better man. ; Okay. ; Keep your eye on them. on who? ; You don’t trust them. ; Anybody is capable of putting a bullet into your head. And if you see any of those relatives, those those liars, you don’t have anything to do with them.
You understand? You dwell. ; Goodbye, my baby. you take care of yourself. I’ll see you real soon. ; I remember saying goodbye to her. I remember a long moment of just us looking at each other. I remember tears in her eyes and tears of my own. I remember each of us saying that we’ll see you soon. Um me believing it.
I looking back, I don’t think she did believe that would happen. I honestly think she thought she was getting us out of there before all hell broke loose. When we got off the plane, the first person I saw was my ex-wife, and she was one of their leaders. She was pretty much the true believer, the fanatic if you will, the type of person who could strap the dynamite on and walk in and take the whole room out.
That’s the degree of commitment. When we were in Guyana, my concern was to see my daughter. To that end, I contacted my ex-wife. I phoned her. No, I’m not trying to tear anybody apart. I’m not against anybody. Would you stop that, please? I am here. I’m here to see Leanne. Lynch, Sharon, I’m not going to argue with you. I’ve just flown thousands of miles to see my daughter and I’m going to see her and neither you nor the temple nor Jim Jones Almighty himself is going to stop me.
All right? Do you hear me? Then hear me. She’s my daughter, too. And I am going to see her tomorrow. If I have to go to Jonestown myself, I am going to see her. Good night. I I wasn’t really concerned about getting into Jonestown as much as seeing my daughter. I wanted to spend the time that I had there with my daughter on and also to discover fully what was going on. But I love my daughter very much.
I was committed to my daughter. You can’t believe from the moment of her birth, I got that her life depended on me. It was just that simple. and I was committed to her. I was very young when she was born, but it didn’t matter. I would move heaven and earth. ; The People’s Temple owned a house in the capital of Georgetown, which functioned as a way station for temple members moving in and out of Jonestown.
Residents of the house included Sherwin Harris’s ex-wife. ; Come on, back to ; and his daughter Leanne’s stepsister Kristen and a younger stepbrother Martin. Come in, Jonestown. This is Georgetown. ; Go ahead. Go ahead. Go ahead. ; They’re here. They’re determined to get in. White night. Wide night. ; Everybody report to the pavilion.
Wide night. Wide night. I had confided in um my roommate that I wanted to leave and he confided in someone else. ; What’s going on? ; And that was Monica. ; Don’t know. I’ve got to get out of here. ; I didn’t trust anyone. Everybody was watching everyone. I had never had a conversation with Monica. ; Got a plan? ; Hell no. I thought you did.
; And we began to talk to each other and bolster each other about wanting to leave. ; For many in Jonestown, the reality was at least as bad as the press reports. ; From what I’ve seen, what was reported was true and it wasn’t good. such as torture, abuse, uh deceit, uh theft, faked healings, drugging of people, punishing of children, the drumming up of fear.
Jim Jones used fear as his chief method of controlling his people, especially those with thoughts of returning to the United States. It was just one account after another of how horrible the United States was becoming. Um, concentration camps were being constructed for people of color. The borders were being patrolled by racist organizations like the Kuku clan, you know, and when that failed, the message was, well, nuclear war is just around the corner, and we were in one of the safest places um to ride out nuclear
holocaust. Jim Jones, determined to keep prying eyes away from his settlement, rallied temple members to sign a petition demanding that Congressman Ryan and his delegation stay out of Jonestown. ; I want to see how many of you will sign right now. Right now. And say no. No, I will not go back. ; The conditions at Jonestown were not conducive for someone to think clearly or sharply. I was numb.
I was emotionally, mentally, and spiritually drained. My own personal feeling was I didn’t know what was going to happen to me. No, I will not see any of my relatives. This is what you have to do because if your relatives come with Congressman Ryan, if your relatives come with him, then your relatives, your relatives are no better than he is.
I was unclear about what the plan exactly was, but my focus was uh the congressman and getting his assistance. Running out of options, Congressman Ryan confronted Temple members at their headquarters in Georgetown, the only link to Jim Jones and Jonestown itself. ; I better do this alone. Uh, if I’m not back in say uh 5 minutes, send in the dogs.
The house was full of temple members, including Steven Jones and the rest of the basketball team. Hi, ; I’m Leo Ryan, the bad guy. ; Hi. ; I remember the congressman showing up. I remember having mixed feelings about it. He’s ; Are you drawing? Good to see you. ; Very outgoing, charismatic, genuine man, or so it seemed to me.
And you don’t get much of that in the temple. ; What’s your name? What can I do for you, Mr. Ryan? ; Well, I’d like to speak with Jim. ; Jim’s not here. ; Well, you can put me in touch with him. ; And at the same time, thinking, who do you think you are walking up on our house? ; You’re going to have to leave.
; Hi, I’m Leo Ryan. You must have heard of me about me. ; Steven Jones once or twice. ; Oh, what are you doing in town? ; Basketball tournament. Um, us against the Gion Nationals. ; How’s it going? Well, sir, they kicked our butts good the first two games and we’re looking for a little revenge. ; Well, let me know if you can use an extra pair of hands.
I can’t dunk, but you know, as politicians, we pass things really well, like basketballs and the buck. ; Congressman, you can’t just come in here as you please. ; Lighten up, Sharon. The man’s just trying to be friendly. ; He might have asked you a couple of questions, like, do you like it there? Joel’s telling me, “How is it?” ; Your father wants to talk to you.
Well, good luck, Stephen. Uh, with the game, I mean, ; you’re going to have to leave now, Mr. Ryan. This is private property. ; Okay. It was nice meeting you. We’ll be seeing you again. Bye-bye. There was a point at which my father sent orders funneled through the radio room. Everything came through there and Sharon Amos that we were to return to Jonestown.
The basketball team was ordered to come back. ; I want you to come home. ; Why? ; Why you need it? Here is why. Now Mavine’s coming back first thing in the morning. I want you to be on the truck with him. the whole damn bunch of him. ; Look, you said it yourself. We’re good PR, Dad. That’s all there is to it. ; We’re having a good time.
We’re playing basketball. ; Let me talk to him. Talk to him. ; Steven, I think you better come back. ; You don’t know what’s happening here, Steven. We really need you. ; We’re staying, Mom. We got a game against the national team tomorrow. ; How’s it going to look if we just h high tail it out of here. ; Besides, you don’t need to speak for him.
; Well, it is up to you. ; Come on. No, it is not up to him. ; I do not want him having anything to do with that congressman nor with the relatives. I want him back here now. You don’t give a damn what happens here. I knew had known for a long time my father was nuts. I’m one that believes he was he was sick from very early on.
By the time the congressman came, he only had a few more months at the rate he was going with his drug use. He was just slowly killing himself on drugs. ; Who do you think’s keeping this place together? ; I am. I am keeping this goddamn place together. ; I know I sent him closer to the edge by refusing to come back at that time.
; There was no denying that he was losing control. And to a man like my father, it must have been like he was sinking in a in quicksand, grabbing at nothing. Jim Jones summoned People’s Temple lawyer Charles Garry to handle Congressman Ryan’s visit to Jonestown, but Jones suddenly reversed course and denied entry.
; What do you mean we’re not going to Jonestown? The only goddamn reason I came here is to take Ryan to Jonestown. Who the hell changed it? Sharon, you. ; Jim did. All right. It was Ryan’s fault anyway. Coming in like he did. ; It’s a whole lot of crap. ; It was Jim’s decision to cancel the visit. ; You know, I’ve had it with you people.
There’s a plane going back to Miami at 1:00 p.m. I’m going to be on it. You hear me? Listen to me, Jim. ; I’m a righteous man. And we are we are a righteous people. And and these traitors, they they come to destroy what we can ; allow them. They they want to steal our children. ; Jim, I mean, so long. So long.
So long, ; Jim. Cut it. Now, what I’m going to say is very simple. You’ve got two alternatives. ; Now, the first is you can tell the Congress, the United States to go to hell. You can tell the media to go to hell, which is what you’ve been doing all along over my jet. ; You can tell the concerned relatives to go to hell.
But if you do that, I ; cannot live with it. I It’s the end of the line. I won’t be with you. Now, the second alternative is what I’ve been urging you to do all along. ; You can let the media in. You can let the congressman in. You can let the concerned relatives in. And you can let them see for themselves what a beautiful place we have there.
Come calm down then. I I don’t know what I’m going to do. Just calm down. Finally, we got word after negotiations between the congressmen and the people’s temples, lawyers, and Jones that we would be allowed to head into Jonestown. Who’s getting in? He says, “Sure. What are you doing using that? Let’s use a little bit.
” ; The preparation for Jonestown before Ryan’s visit was just like the mayor was visiting or the congressman was visiting. You’d paint the house. You’d spruce up the plants. You’d weed. Everything would be in a number one condition to make a positive impression. ; Attention. Attention. Dean promut report to the radio room immediately.
; We had a lot of rehearsal about what to say to these people if they came in. We were rehearsed over and over and over and over again. ; How long do you would you like to stay ; forever? You you just can’t imagine that all the the hundreds of us here are so extremely happy. ; And I love it here. Nobody to bother me.
I’m free and I love everything about it. Now you you tell me th those big buildings out there. What are they? ; Cottages. ; And how many people would you say on average lives in a house? ; Four or five. Two couples to a house? ; No, no, no, no, no. I wouldn’t say that. I I’d say four or five.
Just Just don’t you go into that? Okay. Pass. What do you find that’s wrong with this place? ; Well, I don’t find anything wrong. I had more opportunities here than um any other than I ever had in the States. ; How do you feel about the USA? ; Well, I feel it’s all right. for those who want to be there. ; That that’s very good.
We don’t want to say we’re pro-s Soviet or that we’re against America. You got that? ; I got it. ; Passing. ; Monaco. When you refer to Jonestown, how do you refer to it? ; As a uh a very nice place. ; There was always an atmosphere of us versus them. Jones mentioned that Congressman Ryan was coming. Concerned relatives were coming.
Journalists who were were evil incarnate were coming and they were coming to destroy us. ; Uh people get along, white and black together. And uh ; Okay, I I just say it’s a community. Jonestown, it’s a community. All right. Pass. The survival of the community rested upon a good a good report from these people coming and leaving without incident and giving uh wonderful reports on Jonestown.
; What are common complaints you hear in the community? ; I don’t hear any complaints, only praises of our being able to live here in Guyana. Uh my son’s here with me and I appreciate being here. I enjoy it here. Uh I’ve had I’ve had many more opportunities for for learning trades than I have uh in my whole in my entire life.
; What are some of the complaints you hear against the community, against the temple? ; Uh I I don’t hear any complaints. The only thing I hear is how much people love it here. Uh, everybody says this is the best thing that’s ever happened to them in their whole lives. ; How about you? ; Is the best thing ever happened to you? ; The the very best.
I really appreciate being here. I enjoy it. ; That’s right. Thank you. ; Thank you. ; Leanne’s coming here. No, no, that that’s that’s fine. I don’t need to go to Jonestown. ; No, if she’s coming here, then I’ll just stay here. Okay. Lunch is lunch, dinner. I I really don’t care. Oh, hold on. Hold on one second. Okay, go ahead.
gardens. Good. No, no, I’ll find it. Yes. Okay. And Linda Sharon, thank you. Bye. When I got that information that my daughter was going to come down on uh Saturday, there was no reason in my mind to at that point to go to Jonestown. Now, if it turned out I was being lied to and she didn’t show up on Saturday, I’m going to Jonestown.
I’m going wherever I need to go. I’m going to find my daughter. Congressman Ryan chartered a plane to transport relatives and journalists to Jonestown. ; Okay, folks. Planes ready. ; More than 150 miles deep into the jungle. ; He says, “The Constitution, the Constitution gives him the right to come down here and see us because we are American taxpayers.
” ; See, the Constitution does not give him the right to go wherever he is not invited. I mean, what are we going to say to him? What are we going to say to him anyway? ; You can’t win. I’m telling you with this kind of a prick, you cannot win. ; He treated our children all nice. ; He come tripping into our house like he owned it, telling Sharon Amos, “I heard a lot of dirty things about you.
” Well, I said you tell him, you tell him to go to hell. ; You know what? We don’t have to tell him anything anyway. We don’t have to tell him anything. And you know what? I don’t know how long he’s going to stay, but I can assure you if he stays long enough for tea, he is going to regret it. Know that you have never never been loved so much as I love you right now.
Amen. ; Monica, myself, and my roommate did have a meeting about Ryan coming. The plan was I was going to slip the congressman a note asking for his help to leave. This is our chance. Monica Keith, ; what about your son, Vern? ; If I tell him, he might report us. ; I wrote the note. Vernon Gosny, Monica Bagby, help us get out of Jonestown. That was the note.
He’s better off here anyway. I didn’t know whether to take my son was the right thing to do or not. I I wasn’t thinking clearly. When we flew over the jungle, it became pretty clear how remote and inaccessible Jonestown really was. The plane touched down at an isolated airirstrip more than 5 mi from Jonestown.
When we finally landed on a small dirt airirstrip in Port Kaituma, it became clear how difficult it would have been for anyone to leave Jonestown. ; Okay, there’s the truck. When a truckload of People’s Temple members pulled up with a flatbed, we expected that we’d be moving on quickly to Jonestown and and uh started unpacking our gear.
Congressman Ryan, I’m Corpora, the guy in East Defense Force. ; Oh, thank you very much for coming to meet us. Uh, I’ve been instructed to inform you that only uh, Mr. Gary is to board the truck for Jonestown. ; We’re a congressional delegation. We’re here to inquire into the health and welfare of the people of Jonestown.
; My instructions are clear. ; Well, who are you getting your instructions from? ; Please return to the plane. ; Congressman Ryan and assistant here can come with us. ; Uh, Mr. Gary, I was told ; never mind what you’ve been told. I’m telling you, if you catch any grief, I’ll be right there.
Congressman, ; what about the others? ; I’m working on it. ; Thank you. ; Don’t try and come on your own. Clearly, at that point, we were not welcome. All we could do was wait. Finally, within a few hours, the truck returned to the airirst strip. ; Anybody that wants to come to Jonestown, climb on. ; And we were allowed to board it and we rode toward Jonestown with several members of the temple.
; Let’s go. I think everyone recognized that there was a potential for danger. We were entering a place where not only were we surrounded by miles of jungle, but we also were in the control of Jim Jones and his members. And as a practical matter, it would be hard to get out without their permission. Look, it’s ; here. They’re here.
When we pulled into Jonestown, my first impression was that this place had taken a tremendous amount of work to produce. To make something from scratch in the middle of nowhere was an impressive feat. ; Attention, attention, attention. The reporters are arriving. Some of them will want to take pictures.
So, anyone who doesn’t want their picture taken will be excused. ; There were hundreds of people around the pavilion, and we were escorted there directly to the Reverend Jim Jones. Jim, the uh gentleman of the press have arrived. This is Don Harris, NBC News. Nice to meet Jim. ; Urban Jones. Tim Ryderman. ; I’ve read many of your stories.
I guess you can only print what they tell you. ; Well, we tried to get your side of the story. Haven’t had much success. That’s why I’m here. See the mission for myself. ; Good. A lot of people have found it to be beautiful. Paradise. He was very cordial, but it was still disturbing to see that he appeared weak.
What really concerned me was the way he spoke. Do you mind if I ask you a couple of questions? Why did you decide to let us in now a year after my first request? ; What we got to lose? No barb wire here. We don’t have three, let alone 300 who want to leave. But we’re not violent. We don’t do violence to anyone. Agism, sexism, racism, all been eliminated.
Elitism is almost eliminated. We’re Marxist in the sense of sharing work and in the distribution of goods and services. ; What about the threats of mass suicide, Reverend? ; I only said that it will be better that we commit suicide than kill. Why? Why hurt social progress? He started speaking in a paranoid fashion about his enemies and began to quietly sort of rant about them.
; I I cursed the day I was born. I I don’t know why these people hate me so in some ways. I I feel like like a dying man. You don’t need to put a bullet in my head. ; Thank you. It was disturbing to to hear him sort of put a a figurative gun in the hands of those of us who had come to Jonestown to visit.
It was also disturbing to hear someone who had the lives of so many people in his hands speak that way. Plan was I was going to slip uh the congressman a note asking for his help in my state of mind. didn’t know who was who who at that time yet. I see someone who I think is the congressman who is walking around the perimeter of the assembly.
If I passed the note and it was unsuccessful, I knew I would be killed. There was no doubt about it. I would be I would be killed. You dropped this. Keep asking. ; What was that about? ; That was nothing. Dropped something and I picked it up from the table.
And now everyone, I’d like to introduce you to a very special guest. He has represented many of us who lived in its district back in California. And uh we’d like for you to say a few words to us. ; It wasn’t until later that I found out that that individual was was not the congressman, ; Congressman Ryan. Thank you, Marceline.
; I’m not used to making public speeches. ; Yeah, don’t give me that here. I guess I’m very glad to be here. I’ve already met a former student of mine. I’ve already met a former classmate of one of my daughters from Mills High School in Berlingum. This is a congressional inquiry.
I think all of you know that I’m here to find out more about questions that have been raised about your operations here. But I can tell you right now that from the conversations I’ve had with some of the folks here already tonight that no matter what the comments are that there are some people here believe that this is the best thing that’s ever happened to them in their whole lives.
After Ryan spoke, I was approached by Congressman Ryan. ; Is your name Vernon Gosley? ; Did you give this man a note asking you to believe those? ; Yes, sir. And let me tell you, you’ve got seats on the first plane out of here tomorrow. ; Congressman Ryan had no idea of what he had walked into at all. I’m ; not sure we should wait till tomorrow, Congressman.
; We’ve got a lot of work to do here. ; You’re in danger. You have to know that. ; You’ll be fine. We’re under protection of the US Congress tomorrow. And it was apparent after talking to him that he couldn’t really conceive the level of danger that he was in ; on that Saturday, the last day. Close my eyes.
It’s about it, sir. ; I wondered just how many other people might want to leave. ; Thing is, Ryan told me someone else aside from this Vernon guy approached you. ; Morning out. ; Yeah, exactly. ; Morning. Sleep all right? ; Oh, that was the softest hardwood floor a man could ask for. Marcelyn Jones, who was uh Jim Jones wife, took some of us uh throughout the encampment.
; This is my pride and joy. I I don’t mind saying this is the first home to all 33 children born here in Jonestown. Marcelyn Jones was clearly proud of everything that had been built in Jonestown. The school and the nursery, the clinic that provided health care for children that seemed to be what inspired her and sustained her.
; That’s some pretty advanced reading. ; Those are some pretty advanced kids. ; Hey Oh, hi. I’ll take him from here, Vernon. ; I I think you’re needed back at the pavilion, aren’t you? ; We also have a large nursing staff. Of course, we could always use more. There are almost 300 children here in Jonestown.
Michael, Tim, cut him out. Something’s going on. Okay, ; um would you like to uh see the dispensary? All right. Excuse me. ; You bring those kids back here. ; You bring them back. ; Don’t you within hours. Um, it became clear that more than just two people who slipped a note to a reporter wanted to come out.
There were some entire families who stepped forward and informed the congressman that they wanted to leave with us. ; I’m all right. I’m I was going to just say goodbye or something. ; And the tension just radiated out from Jones and those groups of potential defectors. The whole place was paralyzed. Stay put.
I’m going to come have a word with you later. All right. Please don’t go anywhere right now. I want to talk to you and ask you some questions. I want to talk to him. ; Why are you doing this? Uh, are you lovers? ; No. No. Because you you can have a relationship here. ; No, we’re not lovers. ; Don’t you talk to any of the reporters. All right. They’re liars.
They’re all liars. You don’t have to say anything. Even the ones who lie, they always come back. They always do. Always have a place here. All right. I signed a document that I was leaving my son there of my own free will and I didn’t know if I was doing the right thing and I signed it. How many you got, Congressman? ; I think we’re going to need another plane.
; As time went on, probably about a dozen people had stepped forward and they were insistent on leaving. ; My name is Monica Bagby. I wish to leave Jonestown of my own free will and return to the United States. Is that it? ; Um, my name is Vernon Gazny and I wish to leave Jonestown with my own free will and return to the United States.
I was of a divided mind. On one hand, I thought my son is black and he’s going to be subject to the racism of the uh United States government. And I thought that this was the better place for him to be. I didn’t know. I was confused. ; What now? ; No. We pack up. Truck’s leaving soon. ; I don’t think I ought to go alone.
; I wouldn’t either. That lady said she’d go with me. You ought to get someone, too. When the door swung open, there was a number of security guards within the cottage. I was petrified. I was in extreme fear and terror. What you doing, Vern? ; He’s packing up. What are you doing? Go ahead, Vern. Pack your things.
Thank you. ; As the potential defectors began gathering up their belongings, NBC conducted an interview ; with Jim Jones in the pavilion. ; Okay, we’re ready to go. Well, you never accomplished what you set out. I’m I’m a perfectionist. I mean, we wanted to fade out at the whole arena of public attention, but obviously we haven’t because of lies.
I never never understood how people could lie with such total freedom and conviction. ; As the interview went on, Jones grew more and more tense. ; That’s a lie. It’s a lie. Who? who conspired to kill Dr. Martin Luther King, uh, Malcolm X, John Kennedy, every agency in the whole government is giving us a hard time.
Somebody just doesn’t like socialism. ; I think it was sinking in, if it hadn’t already, that this visit was not going to play well outside Jonestown. We’ve heard that security guards with guns have gone around to the houses and warned people not to. ; Nobody came to see people with guns. I I strictly prohibited guns.
You don’t have to shoot me cuz the media smear doesn’t. I I’ve given my life for people serving people. Are you people going to just just leave us? I just beg you. Please just leave us. ; I’m going to go say goodbye to them. ; We don’t need ; help. They shoot the plane down. I met with my son briefly and ; see you soon. Okay.
; Well, he wasn’t of an age where I could tell him what was happening. I just I hugged him. I said goodbye to him. And that was the last time that I saw him. I um I don’t know what else to say about that moment. Come back anytime. Always have a place here. Come back anytime. Visit your son. Okay. ; Mhm. ; Come back anytime.
You’ll always be welcome here. Reverend, could I just ask you? Could I get your reaction on what’s going on here today? Did you try to stop anyone from leaving? ; No. I feel sorry we’re being destroyed from within. All we want is to be left in peace. He looked somewhat broken and crestfallen but angry.
And what he was saying really was that the defections of some of his members were going to be the undoing and the unmasking of Jim Jones and People’s Temple and what was going on inside of Jonestown. Get out now. I can still make deadline. ; Where’s Ryan? ; He’s staying back to help with the rest of the defectors. ; I mean, there’s more.
; Yeah, only he’s not saying so. ; Thanks. ; Everybody ready? ; Jim, why are you so upset? There are only 15 people leaving out of nearly a thousand. I mean, if 400 people were leaving, then I’d be worried. Things were spiraling out of control. There was a crack that had opened and the crack was continuing to open.
Jones was losing control and the whole community, in my opinion, was going to crack open completely. It’s only 15 people. When I get back, I’m going to report to Congress that of the 60 people cited by the concerned relatives, none of them wanted to leave. They said they were completely happy. Wait, wait. ; Hey, room for one more.
; There’s no way he’s a defector. ; Why are you leaving? Tell you later. ; All right, Jim. This is a wonderful thing you’ve got going on. I’m going to kill you. ; Well, it’s not me, ; I guess. Um, this changes things, doesn’t it? ; Some things, but not everything.
that convinced the congressman not stay behind and process any more defectors that he needed to leave with us on the truck. ; Hey, you’re bleeding, congressman. ; It isn’t mine. ; What happened? ; A minor disagreements. ; We were in serious danger. ; Hey, let’s roll. because the congressman was in some ways our protector.
To see him with blood spattered on his shirt from his asalent and all disheveled showed just how precarious our situation was. I think we wanted to move as quickly as possible down that dirt road and get on a plane with the defectors. When that truck is pulling away, I have no faith whatsoever that we’re ever going to get out of there.
Saturday, November 18th, I headed out to Temple headquarters in Lamaha Gardens to see my daughter, ; Leanne. Leanne. ; Hello. ; Hi, Leanne. ; Um, when I first saw Leanne, it was like nothing was between us. ; Come inside. We’re just about to sit down. ; We hugged and, you know, and kissed and it was just uh it was just wonderful to see her.
I wish you could see the the wonderful work, the great work that we do. You see, there’s nothing to be concerned about. ; And I know she felt the same way to see me. ; How long are you thinking of staying? ; Couple of weeks, maybe even a month. We could tour around. You could show me things. ; Why don’t you two sit down to dinner? Everything’s in the kitchen.
I won’t be a minute. ; It is so good to see you again. It’s been hard and I I I just want to get to know you again and you me. Would that be Would that be all right? You must be hungry. Come on. ; Please, please take care of everyone there. Everyone, Jim, ; everybody in Georgetown, everybody, relatives, too. Just take revenge.
; I’ll have to tell the others. ; Things were going bad. We’ve been ordered to get revenge. Revenge meant go out and kill people. Concerned relatives first, maybe members of the congressman’s party, but those who had turned against us would have been considered the worst enemies. It just took one spark. ; It’s time. It’s time.
; One thread of insanity to unravel the whole works. White night. White night. ; Everybody report to the pavilion immediately. White knight. White knight. Everybody report to the pavilion immediately. White knight. It was heavy. As I’m pulling and I’m pulling, I’m reeling it in. And finally, I yank it up. It’s a tire.
; Not a tire. Just like in the movies. And there I am, Mr. Keaton, looking at it. ; Yeah, ; here’s a call for you. ; We had just gotten a message and Leanne came down and Leanne was having dinner with her father and Leanne was told by Sharon Leanne, the or has just come through. We have to die. Okay. ; She very calmly took the news and I was just struck by that.
Well, this is really real and and How surreal that was. ; Should I go back to dinner? ; You better have him leave your father. ; This is a 21-year-old girl who’s just been told in the dinner with your father cuz we’re going to have to kill ourselves. So many words. And I was just I was overwhelmed with um the fear at that point.
just dread and fear of what must be going down in Jonestown. A large shipment of the liquid poison potassium cyanide had been delivered earlier to Jonestown. The cyanide was now mixed with sedatives and tranquilizers and added to a fruit flavored drink. I think that for dad to have just gone and found a room somewhere and shot himself, one, I don’t think he was capable of shooting himself.
Two, I don’t think he could bear to go alone. His view of existence was so bleak that he thought it was best for everyone to check out. A handful of people with their lies have made our life impossible and we are sitting on a powder cake here and I don’t think that this is what we want to do with our baby. It has been said by the greatest of prophets from time immemorial, “No man may take my life from me, but I lay my life down.
We have been betrayed. We have been so horribly betrayed. Now, now here’s what’s going to happen in the matter of a a few minutes. Is that is that one of the people on the plane is going to is going to shoot the pilot and down comes the plane into the jungle. And we have better not have any of our children left when it is over because they will parachute in here on us.
When we got to the airirstrip, I still had this feeling of impending doom that something was going to happen. As people were boarding, a tractor load of men returned to the airirstrip. It was clear to me that there was no real reason for them to be coming back. There might well be trouble. ; It was decided that Monica and myself were going to go onto the small plane.
So, that plane was boarded first. ; Sorry about this, folks. I’m sorry if it does. Just get safe. Get on the plane. We wanted to make sure that nobody was getting on either of these two planes with weapons because we didn’t really know whether the defectors in fact were defectors. ; Hey, Congressman, I didn’t search you.
; Excuse me. Excuse me. Uh, just a moment, please. Uh, what’s your name? ; Larry Le. ; Sorry. ; Larry Lee. ; Everybody. Okay. ; He shouldn’t have been allowed to come with. Someone said he might have a gun. ; Uh, Ryan’s checking him. All right. ; He’s not going to let us leave here. Jones, I mean, we’ll be in the air in 5 minutes. Okay.
; Thank you. Have fun. Good plan. When do I pick you up? Tomorrow. ; Tomorrow? ; Yeah. ; Whenever you like. ; I like 7 in the morning. ; Okay. ; Good. ; Leanne, ; this is [ __ ] man. ; I needed to get away from it. I needed to find out for more information. maybe gather ourselves and with the hope that we would learn something other than this the madness we were hearing from Sharon.
; My ex-wife came out from downstairs where the radio room was and kissed me goodbye on the cheek. ; I just want to thank you. ; And when she kissed me goodbye, that was the that was really goodbye. You know, I was feeling rather buoyant overall. You know, we had plans for the next day.
I felt we’re making certain inroads. I think they got I felt they got the message. ; See you tomorrow, 7 a.m. ; Okay. ; Tag us this hotel, please. ; So, I felt very upbeat and I felt that we’re making progress. Okay, let’s start getting back on the plane. He’s fine. Everybody spread out. ; They’re killing everyone.
Come on. Come on. Come on. Come on. Oh [ __ ] The gunfire died down.
Then there were several deliberate shots over the space of maybe a half minute. And then there was silence. ; Anyone who has any dissenting opinion, please speak. ; Yes, Christine. Well, I feel like that as long as there’s life, there’s hope. ; Someday everybody dies. Someday that hope runs out. I’d just like to choose my own kind of a death for a change.
I’m I’m I’m tired of being tormented to hell. That’s what I’m tired of. ; I ain’t ready to die. I don’t think that you are. ; But uh I look about at the babies and I think they deserve to live, ; you know. ; Yeah, I agree. I agree. But don’t they also deserve much more? Don’t they deserve peace? ; Yeah. ; We all came here for peace.
; And And have we had it? ; No. ; Just hold on, sister. We made it a beautiful day. And let’s make it a beautiful day. That’s what I say. ; I tried I tried to stop this thing from happening. But now I see I see it is the will it’s the will of sovereign being that this happened to us that we lay down our lives as a protest against what is being done.
You know the criminality of people, the cruelty of of people. I I just know I know there is no point. There’s no point to this. What come now folk? What come now? It’s all over. The congressman has been murdered. Sharon Amos was one of the small percentage of the temple membership that I viewed as a a zealot. ; And um certainly by the end days she was every bit as sick as my father was.
I know that woman loved her children dearly. ; And this is in no way an explanation or an excuse or a defense of what she did. But for her, she thought she was saving them. If we give them our children, then our children will suffer forever. We win. We win when we go down. ; I was a man born out of due season.
Well, I’ve been born out of due season just like we all have. And the best testimony we can make is to leave this goddamn world. What a legacy. They they invaded our privacy. They come ; to our home. They they followed us 6,000 miles away. Get us some medication. It’s simple. There’s no convulsions with it.
It’s just simple. Just please get some. You know, so much of it feels like fate. Every possible ingredient that could be thrown into this disastrous recipe was thrown in there. You know, you’ve got my father who’s already unraveling. ; Are you going to separate yourself from who shot the congressman? I don’t know you, Sean.
; And you’ve got a demoralized, malnourished, exhausted populace. And the people of Jonestown were just they were also crazy uh on some level because of the what they’d been put through by my father. ; It’s just simple. Just please get some. Just get it. ; And then who were the first to die? The children were the first to die.
; All they’re doing is taking a drink. Guyana Defense Force will be here. I’m telling you, get moving. Get moving. Get moving. ; I’m sure many people believed that they were lost, that they were going to come in with force and their children were going to be taken from them and they were going to they were going to die or or suffer greatly.
; All they’re doing is taking a drink. ; Mother, mother, please. Mother, mother, please. Mother. Mommy, what’s happening to everybody? ; Can some people assure these kids ; of the relaxation of stepping over to the next plane? They set an example for the others. ; They take it to fall asleep.
That That’s what death is. ; Daddy, ; and even those that still wanted to get out of it, where were they going to go at that point? ; How are they going to get out of it? It’s It’s about more than, you know, Jim Jones saying, “Line up and take the poison. It’s time to go.” ; Oh my god. Oh my god. No. No. No. No. Lay down your burden. Don’t don’t be
afraid to die. ; But you told me to go. ; He wants me to tell the world what what happened here. ; Okay. The truth of it. ; I’m not going to let them take your child. Can you let them take your child? ; Lay down your life with dignity. Don’t lay down the tears and agony. I tell you, I don’t care how many screams you hear.
I don’t care how many anguished cries. Death is a million times preferable to 10 more days of this life. If you knew what was ahead of you, if you knew what was ahead of you, you’d be glad to be stepping over. ; If we can’t live in peace, then let’s die in peace. ; We’ve said 1,000 people say we don’t like the way the world is. take our life from us.
; We laid it down. We got tired. ; We didn’t commit suicide. We committed an act of revolutionary suicide, protesting the conditions of an inhumane world. After a while, I stood and started to work my way back to the airirst strip. wanted to see what had happened to everyone else. I saw several bodies
on the ground. It appeared from the wounds of some of them that temple members had gone around and finished them off with shots to the head. Don Harris of NBC, Congressman Ryan Greg Robinson, the photographer with me. Bob Brown of NBC. Patricia Parks, one of the defectors, all of them were dead. During the ambush at the airirstrip, five people were murdered, including Congressman Leo Ryan.
11 others were wounded but survived including Ryan’s aid Jackie Spear and defector Monica Bagby. ; Jones sent gunmen to the airirstrip to kill the congressmen and others so that he could then turn to his followers and say no country no place wants us any longer because some of our people have now killed the congressman. There’s no hope till the last possible minute.
You cling to to hope that people are alive. And a young woman came out and walked up to me and said Sharon’s killed herself and killed her children. She believed that her children were going to be taken through horrible circumstances. and that death was better for them. As I opened the door, the first thing I saw was the babies and and you know, they were dead.
Clearly dead, clearly gone. It was just just horrible. And Leanne wanted so much to to to please her mother. The love of a daughter for a mother. I there’s probably nothing like it. And what I learned later was that they actually killed each other by slitting each other’s throats. I came to several hours later and I knew it was several hours later because it was dark.
I could hear people walking through the bushes. What it was, in fact, was people looking for survivors. Only a handful of temple members inside Jonestown survived. Some escaped into the jungle. 76-year-old Hyestent Thrash had hidden under her bed. I lost everything that day. I lost
brothers and sisters and dear friends, people I’d known my entire life and the dearest person on the planet to me, which was my mother. She resisted and physically restrained um until the last child died and then she walked up and took the poison herself. My father, well, I can tell you I’ve never grieved his death.
I remember feeling disgust that he didn’t go the way everybody else went. Not only did he have to be shot in the head, but he had to have somebody else do it. And I still believe it was because he couldn’t bear to go out the way he was seeing other people go out. For the entire incident, I blame Jim Jones. It’s as if he was determined to make sure nobody won.
If he wasn’t going to win, nobody was going to win. The people that died in Jonestown were my family. And they were my family when my family wasn’t my family. and they’re all just just really few wonderful good people who wanted to make a positive change in the world. One of the myths of Jonestown was that it was a mass suicide whereas in fact it was a mass murder.
; They lie. They lie. What can I do about liars? Are you people going Leave us. I just beg you. Please leave us. ; It happened because Jim Jones didn’t want word to get out to the outside world what was going on inside his community. He didn’t want the defectors to tell their stories and they didn’t want the reporters to tell their stories and he didn’t want the congressman to tell his story.
The first time I thought about the consequences of Jonestown and what had happened when I was in a military hospital in Puerto Rico and uh a military psychiatrist came to speak to me and tell me that my son was dead. The loss of my son has been the most difficult thing in my life to deal with. My sense of remorse, my sense of guilt, like going back to that moment a million times and making a different decision.
To find some level of peace and some level of forgiveness has been the most challenging thing for me. I love my daughter very much. I’ve lost her. I’m I’m suffering truly suffering with the grief of that all these, you know, for years. And I came to see that I was really holding on to the grief as if I as if I let it go, I’d be letting go of her.
And I thought, that’s not right. And I came to see that I could hold my daughter as a loving memory forever and let the grief go. ; There were a lot of reasons I think that people ended up taking the poison. I don’t know who took it, who was injected. I think more than anything it was out of loyalty to everybody else there.
Um, in my case, if I had been there, I know I had a strong will to live, but I think that it was so important to me or how I was perceived by the people of my community was so important to me that it might have taken me to my death. Ask yourself, what would someone have to tell you? or what would someone have to do to you to get you to do something that you couldn’t possibly believe you you were capable of and examine that.
Learn from it. Don’t judge it. Don’t stand separate from it. Be willing to stand in the shoes of the people you’re judging. And I hope that you know 900 plus people that they died and the way they died um might offer us something so that their lives won’t be in vain. My name Hallelujah.
