Guyana 17 November 1978: Yesterday afternoon five Americans were shot down by other Americans … They’d gone to investigate a cult called the People’s Temple. Storyville: Terror in the Jungle I II, television news, BBC 2019
You have never met a man like Jim Jones before. ibid. witness
I am the creator of the People’s Temple mission and I will have my way. ibid. Jones
San Francisco 1972 six years before the massacre: ‘We shall have our freedom here and now.’ ibid.
The only God you need is within you. ibid.
I witnessed many many many healings. ibid. witness
At age 25, Jim Jones forms his first church in Indianapolis. ibid. caption
In 1965 Jim Jones and 140 church members move to Redwood Valley, California. ibid.
The rampant drug use increased his paranoia. ibid. dude
More than 900 People’s Temple members are living in Jonestown, Guyana. ibid. caption
Leslie’s group plans to hike through the jungle to a small village called Matthew’s Ridge. ibid.
You could see he [Jones] was not right. ibid. survivor
We’re up over twenty people. ibid. survivor’s group
A supernatural force swept in and took over the place. ibid.
In 1978 Jim Jones, the leader and self-proclaimed god of the People's Temple, convinced about a thousand of his devotees to give up everything and follow him to a remote South American jungle. It was supposed to be a journey to the promised land. Escaping Evil: My Life in a Cult, CI 2013
He indoctrinated his followers with a blend of theology and politics he called Apostolic Socialism. ibid.
Jones vilified the outside world. Jones convinced his followers they must establish a new community. ibid.
Jones was now using drugs heavily. ibid.
909 people died in Jonestown, including Jim Jones. Over two hundred of them were children. ibid.
Born: May 13 1931 Lynn, Indiana; Died: November 18 1978 Jonestown, Guyana. The Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones 1980 miniseries aka The Mad Messiah starring Powers Boothe & Ned Beatty & LeVar Burton & Ron O’Neal & Veronica Cartwright & James Earl Jones & Irene Cara & Rosalind Cash et al, director William A Graham, opening caption
I think I might be a preacher when I grow up like Mister Kennedy. ibid. young Jim
I need people who believe in me and believe in the gospel. ibid. Jim to hospital nurse
Oh children, children, we must all give give give. ibid. Jim preaching
I am the chosen one. ibid. Jim to wife
I am particularly grateful to our newly elected mayor for his selection of me as your housing commissioner. ibid. Jim’s television address
I am here. I have returned. I have brought you miracles. ibid. Jim preaching
I am the Father. I am God. ibid. Jim to child
It would be better to be dead than to see them destroy everything we’ve worked for all these years. ibid.
Why am I so persecuted? ibid.
November 1978: For about the last thirty hours we here at NBC News have been trying to establish what happened last night in Guyana on the northern coast of South America. The searching American soldiers have finished counting the bodies in Jonestown, Guyana: 910 … Jonestown: The Women Behind the Massacre, news helicopter, CI 2018
Carolyn was in a relationship with Jim … The dynamics of sex and power in People’s Temple … Jim was not going to marry my sister because Jim’s wife Marceline was much loved by the congregation. ibid. woman
The inner circle was mostly white, was all white. ibid. son
Conditions were tough, but there seemed to be enough to eat, and people seemed to be in good spirits. ibid. woman
Debbie Layton made her escape … and went public. ibid.
A plan was in place for everybody to die. ibid.
‘He murdered everybody.’ Jonestown Massacre: People Magazine, survivor, ID 2018
In the summer of 1965 a couple hundred pilgrims from Indiana and Ohio drive across the country in a caravan of cars led by the Reverend Jim Jones. Once in California Jones forms his church which he names the People’s Temple. ibid.
He set up free food and clothing programmes for the needy; he established a series of well-run nursing homes for the elderly. ibid.
‘I noticed that not all of the meetings were happy meetings.’ ibid. survivor
The nuclear attack never came. But by the mid-1970s Jones begins speaking to his followers about finding a place where they can be sheltered from the violence and corruption of American society. ibid.
From an early age Jones became obsessed with religion. ibid.
At the air-strip 33 people prepare to board 2 aircraft. ibid.
Armed guards surround the pavilion area. ibid.
An evangelical preacher of nearly a thousand followers from the United States deep into the jungles of South America – they would build a new community free from oppression and violence. It was to be their paradise on earth. But outsiders threatened to expose the dark side of their leader. In one day two worlds collided and paradise was lost. Jonestown: Paradise Lost, Sony TV 2019
In November 1978 reporters around the world broke the news that Jim Jones and more than 900 of his followers died. ibid.
As his popularity grew, Jim Jones preached less about the Bible and more about social activism; he called himself a prophet. ibid.
Former temple members accused Jones of physical and sexual abuse. ibid.