EPISODE 53 - Jonestown Massacre - PART TWO

of me , so I had to take frequent breaks . Yes , at one point when I was listening to some of the audio , I had to stop listening and go to the shop and buy myself a cream egg .

Yeah , so if everyone could just sign up to our cult I mean podcast then I could leave my job and I could do this full time and I would love to do that . But , yeah , you're bringing it on yourself . Yeah , who was that message from Maddie Maddie ? Sorry , maddie , on Sarah's behalf . Sorry , maddie , sorry , sorry Maddie .

Morning , morning , morning , morning , morning , morning Morning .

It went through all these different kind of followings to kind of decide where he fitted and what his beliefs were . And his beliefs were that he wanted to make a change and that he wanted to do better . He wanted to racially integrate the world , he wanted everyone to be equal and he created a following which was People's Temple .

And the People's Temple set out to do great things and they did and they made a lot of changes . But then things started to deteriorate and we left part one , with Jim moving the congregation from California to San Francisco .

So we start the second episode following the People's Temple from California to San Francisco , where Jim felt like he wasn't getting enough attention in California and he wanted to make really , really big , radical statements and he felt that San Francisco was the way to do this .

So he moved his followers to a three-story complex into San Francisco and he occupied the entirety of the top floor for himself . That's where he and his family lived and he had , like you know , like his desk and whatever else up there , and everyone else lived in the other two floors of the complex and they were forced to sleep in very close quarters .

They were bunk beds and triple beds and they were kind of all on top of each other . So the living conditions straight away weren't particularly great . But his followers did not care because what they cared about was the cause .

So immediately Jim went about trying to gain political power and he started rubbing shoulders with whoever he could at the time and in San Francisco at the time there was a lot of demonstrations going on and people felt that through the power of people they could make a change . So at the drop of the hat , jim would have his followers join these demonstrations .

They were a huge gathering , there was hundreds of them at the time , and they would just rally behind any demonstration that they could .

So Jim was always at the forefront of these political rallies and demonstrations and so , slowly but surely , jim started to gain a lot of political power and you could kind of see him , like I say , he was rubbing shoulders with all of the politicians and things .

So he had , he had a lot of power given to him and he was still recruiting as well for his cause and for the people's temples , and what he would do is that he would go to the homeless and he would preach to them , and he would go to the drug addicts and he would preach to them .

He would find the prostitutes and he would preach to them , and he would go to single mothers , you know anybody that was vulnerable , and what he preached was that he could give them a place to sleep , he could give them a job , he could give them a family . You know the yeah , whatever they were missing Exactly , and people went there .

Jim promised as well that to a lot of people that he could get them off drugs , and he did do that . So he did take in the homeless and he did take in the any vulnerable person . So to those people the people's temple was a lifeline to them . So they had a massive investment into the people's temple .

The people's temple would change their lives , because before the people's temple they were homeless or they were addicted to drugs or they were living a life of prostitution . So to a lot of his followers , jim Jones was an extraordinary person . He was incredibly selfless and he was this beacon of hope for them . But the reality was very , very different .

With the people's temple very quickly gaining new members , the complex began to swell . People were forced into awfully cramped conditions . They were forced to sleep on the floor or just like pieces of foam and because of the cramped conditions people didn't have any valuables . They couldn't have any valuables . They couldn't have any belongings .

Their pets were taken from them and slaughtered and they were just like burned in a pit out the back because there wasn't enough room for the pets . There also wasn't enough food for the people that were there , let alone the pets as well . Meals became very cheap , non-nutricious , like slop Almost like .

And also , jim had moved his congregation from California to San Francisco , but he did also have other smaller congregations dotted about all over the place , so he would force family members to go to this one , and you can go to that one and you can go to that one , so it kept them separate .

And the reason that he did that was so that family members couldn't rally together . Yeah , they didn't want to leave the temple because they were leaving family members behind , but they also didn't have any support to leave the temple . Hmm , it's cruel , isn't it ? It's very cruel and it's very well thought out .

He didn't want any outside conflicts , influence whatsoever . Yeah , exactly , he wanted the people's church to be all consuming . If you were in the people's church , that was it , that was your life . Yeah , the abuse as well . So I mentioned in the previous episode about the different abuse that kind of went on in California and it kind of in San Francisco .

It and I don't know whether it was his paranoia or his desire to control people more , it just ramped it up . So on a daily basis , meetings were held and people were questioned about what they'd been up to .

Hmm , and because people were spying on each other , jim had an idea of what people would do in and if they'd been breaking the rules or and so people were pulled up on stage and they were questioned about who they'd been speaking to outside of the people's temple or who they'd perhaps gone to dinner with , and anyone found to be breaking the rules was severely

punished . Jim didn't allow even the people's temple members to talk amongst each other . People were whipped on stage . Parents were made to whip their children oh God and if they weren't doing it hard enough , they would then also be punished . And people were also made to box each other .

So if you'd been found to be breaking the rules , you'd be pulled up on stage and then you'd be publicly humiliated and berated by everybody else in the church and then Jim would make you box Sometimes five people . One of the survivors said sometimes you were fighting five different members , but you weren't allowed to fight back .

So you're basically being beaten up .

So it was kind of like a mob , yeah , a mentality as well . So it's just awful . People willingly participated in that abuse and one of the survivors said that he would be in the crowd and he would watch these beatings and he would watch what was going on and he knew that they were wrong .

But he feared speaking out because he didn't know who he could trust . He didn't know who he could speak out to . Loved ones were turning their own family members over If they'd spoken out about Jim . So to either take part in the beatings or be beaten . Yeah , that was it . They didn't have any other options .

Jim also started getting his followers to call him father . I think I mentioned this in the first episode . From what I can find , jim didn't have any strong religious views . It wasn't a church that kind of spoke about Jesus or prayed to Jesus , and it wasn't Christianity . It wasn't a specific religion .

It was just a church that spoke of peace and equality and of a better way of living , and they wanted to change the world with their movement , and at the start that's exactly what they did , yeah .

But he kind of said to the people if you want me to be your father , I'll be your father . If you want me to be your God , I'll be your God . If you want me to be this person , then I'll be that person . He was like I'll be whoever you need me to be , I'll be like I want you to fuck off .

Some had been with Jim from the very , very start , when he first started I think it was was it Wings of Hope or before he changed the name . So people were very afraid to leave and to escape . But some people did and this made Jim even more abusive .

He told people in one of his services that his love wasn't enough now to keep people loyal and that he would have to get mean , and here is some audio of that .

You nearly caused 1,000 deaths . So , god damn it . You deserve to let your life be tested . I didn't need mine tested . I've had all kinds of tests and each of you compound me my test over and over again by your own bullshit . So I'm behind behind no polls .

Better get your face out of me over , because I'm watching you , because some of you fuckers try to kill me . I mean literally . I know when you did it . I know when you tried to kill me , fucker , you know what I'm talking to . I know when you try to do it . I'm aware of you fuckers , anybody else that cuts your throat .

So to watch you , they cut your throat . So I'm going to take a hethy look , but quit underestimating me . You may not believe in anything , but one god damn thing you want to believe in that this mind is more prepared to know what the hell's going on than anybody , because he doesn't trust anybody . I don't trust one motherfucker .

I trust communism and I trust no motherfucker . I'm listening to you looking down . You're participant here . You're not an elite .

This blank piece of paper was used as a threat to anybody that thought of leaving , and Jim could write whatever he wanted on this piece of paper A suicide note he threatened .

So people were often told that if they left the people's temple they would be killed , and I don't want to say that's exactly what happened , but there are some deaths that happened to people that left the people's temple . So Maxine Hopp , who had attended the people's temple back in Ucaia in California , she joined the temple .

She turned over $2,400 on the sale of her home to the church . She was found hanging in her garage after she'd left and her son believed that his mother just she desperately wanted to get out of the temple but she couldn't find a way out . But he believed that she didn't kill herself Right .

The shooting itself was not a mystery , but the motive was unclear and it's alleged that Jim Jones ordered the killing because he wanted to leave , or he was going to leave , or he's making plans to leave Highly highly believable , isn't it ?

She strongly believed in Jesus , so she threatened to leave and Jim decided to use her as an example of what would happen to former members who left quote father's protection and directed a temple nurse to order a drug known to induce heart attacks . A few days before Hart's death , jones predicted that she would die of a heart attack . Yeah , but he did .

So people were fearful of leaving , and rightly so , and I'm going to go through more as well about that . But there are I think I said it in the first episode . There are over 900 audio tapes that are available to listen to . They're all transcribed as well , so if you don't want to listen to them , you can read them . And there's a lot .

I find I've had the time . I'd have gone through every single one of them , but I went through as many as I could , because some of the services were just shocking . The things that were spoken about were just shocking .

And Jim was holding a service about a gentleman that had tried to leave the people's temple and he's asking people for their opinions and what should happen to him , and people are shouting out from the audience that you know what they think , what punishment he deserves , and people are saying that he should be shot .

And this there's a particular bit that I wanted to share with you , so you could kind of get a feel as to why people were so scared to leave . And someone shouts out from the crowd that being shot and is too quick is too quick and easy for this person that's decided to leave and then this happens , jim said . He said dying's too easy . We have that .

We have that . Any other dissent based on some other concept ? I'll listen to all input and a woman shouts out from the audience yes , father , what I felt he should suffer . So much pain . He had to crawl on his belly for weeks and he'd have to look at the people while he was suffering and the fact that shooting , like everybody else's , was too fast .

I thought he should suffer for weeks and weeks and crawl on his belly and look at the people . Every time he looks up He'd have to see the people . He had to suffer and then be shot on top Jesus .

And in another audio there's two men that are caught trying to escape and they are brought before the crowds of people and Jim is shouting at them that they're vile filth and they're evil and they're insidious . And then one of the men's own mother shouts out from the crowd and says neither one of you deserves any pity .

I think both of you should be shot now and I should be allowed to do it . So families , families are turning on each other .

When the pigs came and put her to take her to jail , it was you that she called on and even though , even though she called on you , she put you through all this trouble . Right now , I feel that it's a bitch that we got and she got someone . I don't care . I feel it's a bitch that we got both of us that we got and dragged by a car .

I'd like to kill my so-called brother and Bill Arons for the crap that both of them have called us over these years since they've left . Thank you , and your dad was up on the steps .

here and live peacefully and this is why he's causing all this hell and I'd like to personally do those things to him just to get him to realize that he's .

And I'll say these things as well , then , because if I speak out against this , I'm the only one that's speaking out against this and I'm the only one that's not joining in and I'll be prosecuted and these things will happen to me . So you can understand why people didn't want to leave . Was that Jim Giggling at the end ?

Yeah , that maniacal couple at the end . That was Jim Jones .

So the People's Temple started to gain a lot of attention and because of their demonstrations and because of everything that Jim was doing and the healing revivals and things , and so with this attention , it brought a lot of ridicule and one journalist in particular wanted to investigate the People's Temple and he wanted to investigate the healing services because some

people had started to say that they were now a hoax and a lot of people were saying that Jim Jones wasn't this divine being . You know . People had started to leave the People's Temple and stories of what was actually going on had started to surface .

Word of this journalist and his investigation found its way to some of the defectors of the People's Temple and they were more than happy to share their stories of abuse and neglect .

And the news article headline reads Inside People's Temple , 10 who Quit the Temple Speak Out , and there are 10 separate excerpts of these defectors speaking out about the abuses that had suffered and the beatings that were held and how these beatings were justified .

So I just want to take a second and just read one of these excerpts out , just so that you can truly understand . So this is from Elma and Deanna Myrtle . When we first went up to Redwood Valley , jim Jones was a very compassionate person . He taught us to be compassionate to old people , to be tender to children .

But slowly the loving atmosphere gave way to cruelty and physical punishments . Elma said the first forms of punishment were mental , where they would get up and totally disgrace and humiliate the person in front of the whole congregation .

Jim would then come over and put his arm around the person and say I realize that you went through a lot , but it was for the cause . Father loves you and you're a stronger person now and I can trust you more now that you've gone through this and accepted this discipline . The physical punishment increased too .

Both the Myrtles claimed they received public spankings as early as 1972 , but they were hit with a belt only about three times . Eventually , they said , the belt was replaced by a paddle and then by a large board dubbed the Board of Education , and the number of times adults and finally children were struck increased to 12 , 25 , 50 and even 100 times in a row .

Temple nurses treated the injured . At first the Myrtles rationalized the beatings . The punished child or adult would always say thank you , father . And then Jim would point out the next week how much better they were .

In our minds we rationalized that Jim must be doing the right thing because these people were testifying that the beatings had caused their life to make a reversal in the right direction . Then one night the Myrtles daughter , linda , was called up for discipline because she had hugged and kissed a woman friend she hadn't seen in a long time .

The woman was reputed to be a lesbian . The Myrtles stood among the congregation of 600 or 700 while their daughter , who was then 16 , was hit on her buttocks 75 times . She was beaten so severely . It said , elmer , that the kid said her butt looked like hamburger .

So they thought that he was doing it for the better of the cause and for the better of the people . Proper control , isn't it ? And in these excerpts some speak out about the healing and how they were staged and being part of these stooges and things . Some speak out about embezzlement of money within the temple .

One of the defectors said that if they got more than six hours sleep they would be punished . And one man was vomited on and urinated on , oh God . So news of this article reached Jim and he managed to get a copy of it before it was released , and he knew that it would be detrimental to his reputation . But he had a plan .

So for months prior to this , jim had been building an oasis in a very remote rainforest in Guyana . It was a place of paradise for the people's temple to live out the remainder of their lives in peace . It would be self-sufficient , self-governing .

There would be accommodation aplenty , there would be schools for the children , there was work for everyone and it was a paradise , a sanctuary , for all of its members . And it was named Jonestown . So Jonestown already had about 50 members living there . They had been planting crops and building structures and taking care of the livestock .

Like they literally built this place from the ground up , they cleared an area of rainforest . It was so incredibly remote that there was just one road that had been built to access this part of the jungle . But when Jim decided it was time to up and move the entire people's temple , jonestown was not ready for the influx of people .

In May 1977 , jim and about 600 of his followers arrived in Jonestown , with a further 400 more following in the next few months after they'd sold off their homes and belongings and whatever else .

Jim had created videos of this promised land and sent them back to the US to be played in like other of his churches of the people's temple , to encourage more members to join . And these videos I watched them .

He's like parading around Jonestown and he's standing among these freshly produced bananas and saying how delicious they are compared to normal bananas , but you can see the stickers on them where they've been imported . And he showed people the chicken coops and how well the chickens thrived and how delicious their eggs were .

And he was saying we've got eight more of these and none of their chickens died . No chickens have died , no chickens have died . And he keeps saying this and that's because that wasn't true . So for the first several months the temple members say that it was the best time of their lives . Living at Jonestown was the best time of their lives .

It was the happiest they've ever been . But with the members of Jonestown increasing , as more and more people fled to Jonestown off the back of this video that was used to entice people , food became incredibly sparse .

They were promised meat and fruit and veg from their self-sustaining land , but instead they were fed rice for breakfast , rice soup for lunch and then rice and beans for dinner , and on a Sunday , sometimes all they would be given was a single egg and a biscuit . The land wasn't self-sustaining at all .

The weather was incredibly unpredictable in Guyana and the land wasn't fertile . They couldn't grow any crops and there was some sort of disease that was killing off all the chickens and the pigs , and they didn't know what it was and they couldn't stop it . So people very quickly began to realise that what they had been promised was all a lie .

They worked six days a week from approximately 6.30am to 6pm , with an hour for lunch . After the day's work ended , temple members would attend several hours of activities in the pavilion , including classes in socialism . John compared his schedule to the North Korean system of eight hours of daily work followed by eight hours of study .

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If you want to subscribe , just follow the link in the episode description . You'll also get a huge thank you and shout out in the next episode . Blam over back to the episodes . These meetings in the pavilion weren't just for study .

Jim used this time to tell his members of the horrors that were going on back in the US , and he would read them news articles to scare them from wanting to go back . He would say that slavery was back .

And if they did write to their families , he would go through the letters to make sure that nobody was telling the actual truth as to what was going on in Jonestown . When families did write letters , Jim didn't give them out . Jim said to people that none of your family care about you . They've not even written you any letters .

But the truth was that the family members had written letters . They'd sent money for plane tickets back and Jim held their passports hostage so that nobody could get literally nobody could get out because they didn't have their passports .

Jim also started to use this time in the Pavilion to start something that he called White Night , and these were services to practice the readiness of the people's temple , for what Jim was saying was revolutionary suicide . Jim was inspired by the term . It was introduced many years earlier by Black Panther leader Huey Newton .

Jim argued that after he settled in Jonestown in the summer of 1977 , that it was better to kill oneself than to be defeated by one's enemies . That became his motto , much like what Hitler did when he was so fanatical about Hitler as a youth that Hitler committed suicide to evade capture . That was Jim's stance .

Jim was also incredibly paranoid of outside attack and he preached that if they couldn't change the world with their views of socialism and communism , then it wasn't a world that they should be living in . He often said that people were out to get him and that if he died , their life wouldn't be worth living . Without Jim , their life was nothing .

So we've all come to the conclusion , with the defectors that have went out and lied upon the good works , for Jim Jones has shown the examples that he showed for each and every one of us , and even some of us that aren't even here , and even the defectors that are out , the examples that he showed , which they cannot deny in the back of their minds .

We've come to a decision that we would rather die than to live on this earth , because there is nowhere else we can go . There is nowhere else that would suit the purpose of the beautiful teachings and the life that we have , that we built here in Jonestown .

So we would rather commit a revolutionary suicide and if the world's in question about why we took our lives or why we took our babies or our seniors lives , this is why we don't want to be involved with the mess that's going on in this world and the mess that's going to keep on going in this world .

So you can see how indoctrinated the members of Jonestown were . They were fully on board with Jim Jones's view of revolutionary suicide because they thought that the world wasn't ready for them and that they were under so much attack that it would be better to die than to carry on living in a world that didn't preach the same things that they preached .

So for these white knights , jim had like megaphones installed in Jonestown , like in everybody's complex . There was megaphones everywhere . So when these services started , jim would call out over these loudspeaker white knight , white knight , white knight , all members to the pavilion . And then members would rush together at the pavilion .

Armed guards with guns and crossbows would stand outside , like around the outside . The pavilion was like it was just a building with a roof , there was no sides to it , it was all open .

During these services they would talk about this act of revolutionary suicide and they would chant and sing to ward off these appending attacks that Jim Jones said that was going to happen . And Jones would sometimes have his armed guards go off into the surrounding jungle and then fire their guns to make it seem like they were under attack .

And one of these white knight meetings lasted six days . They called it a six day siege where they were in this pavilion like trying to defend themselves against this attack . That wasn't happening .

And during one of these white knight services , jim instructed everyone to take a drink from this big vat of liquid and everybody went up , they got their cup , they scooped up a drink and they drunk down their drink . And after everybody had drunk their drink , they were told to give it to their babies , their children , you know .

After everyone had consumed this drink that was in this vat , jim told them that what they had just drunk was poison and that they were all going to die . And he watched people and they some people screamed , some people fainted and some people remained completely silent just accepting their fate . And they just waited to die .

And it was then that Jim said this is a test you haven't drunk poison , but this is a test of loyalty , to see whether you are actually willing to commit revolutionary suicide .

And during these white knight services , people were never told until after the service ended that it was a drill , so they'd go to these white knight services to practice this revolutionary suicide . On at least two occasions a mass suicide was rehearsed . They didn't know whether it was real or not until the very end .

And one of the defectors said everyone , including the children , was told to line up . As we passed through the line , we were given a small glass of red liquid to drink . We were told that the liquid contained poison and that we would die within 45 minutes .

We all did as we were told and when the time came , when we should have dropped dead , reverend Jones explained that the poison was not real . And then we've just been through a loyalty test . He warned us that the time was not far off when it would become necessary for us to die by our own hands . So people had been through this a few times .

So they just become so desensitized to it . Jim started playing announcements and speeches throughout the day over these megaphones , and these were chants and just different services , and then he would have called himself and he would play it overnight .

So his voice was over the loudspeaker 24 hours a day , and it turned Jonestown into some sort of prison camp , because people were tested on these announcements . They were tested , did you listen ? Did you listen ? And if they got any part of it wrong , they were punished .

So not only were they working long laboring hours like physically demanding jobs they were doing because they were building structures and they were farming and you know whatever else .

They then had these meetings that that would go on into the early hours of the morning , and when they were finally allowed to go to sleep , they would remain in a half sleep because they were trying to listen to these announcements that were going on , because they didn't want to get the questions wrong .

So they didn't realise it , but every aspect of their life was being controlled by Jim .

What's even more shocking is that when you watch these videos and you listen to these videos of the services need like the audio of the services at Jonestowns . They're so happy , it's like a gospel church and they're singing and it's full of energy and people are participating and they seem joyous and , yeah , I think that's hitting the nail on the head .

They seem joyous , they seem joyous because everybody's taking part and not wanting to be the one that goes . Are you listening to this ? Yeah , because they're the ones that are going to be lynched .

So they always because he's tired , he's working so hard and whatever else . But by the end of 1977 , things in Jonestown were incredibly bleak . It was estimated that Jim had over $13 million in various accounts plus well over $1 million in cash at Jonestown . That could easily have sustained the community quite comfortably .

But instead Jim decided to drive people harder , to feed them less , to house them in inadequate quarters and then to step up discipline when people didn't meet these expectations . Yeah , because he was enjoying himself .

There's one audio that's there's a boy that's tried to escape and Jim brings him back and stands him in front of everybody and he says to him where , where did you think he was going to go ? I've told you about these snakes and I've told you about this . What did you think that snake was going to do to you ?

And tell him about all the dangers that are in this jungle . That just weren't true . And he told people that the government granted him the right to shoot anyone that fled and that the American Embassy promised cooperation to Jim to send back anyone who'd escaped .

So even if they did manage to escape the dangers of the rainforest , if they did manage to get on a plane to go back to the US , that the American Embassy would just send them straight back and then they would be sent straight back and punished by Jim and the rest of the community .

So some of the punishments for these defectors were . One of the punishment was to lock people in this container , almost like a coffin . It was like a container and it'd been dug into the ground and the lid would be closed on them and they'd be forced to remain there . So the solitary confinement and the sensory deprivation was horrific for most people .

We would tie people to poles to the edge of the jungle and leave them there and tell them that the giant snakes and the tigers were going to get them . So there , literally , was just no escape at all . And back in the US there was temple defectors from before Jonestowns , family members as well of people that had fled to Guyana .

They started a concerned relatives group and they started trying to just do everything that they could , because they knew that their letters weren't being given out and the letters that they were receiving . When they compared them to everyone else's letters from the family members , they were all the same .

We don't have money for bandages , and so they didn't even have any sort of health care or anything like that there . And so these concerned relatives . They created a flyer and I found the flyer so I'm going to read it to you and it's a picture . It's just a black and white typed flyer .

It's not like a extravagant flyer , but there is a picture of a baby behind bars and the flyer says this nightmare is taking place right now . Will you help us free our families ? And then it says who are the concerned relatives ?

We're individuals having only one bond in common relatives isolated in the Jonestown jungle in Camp Benenguiana , south America , under the total control of one man , jim Jones . We are spoused , no political or religious viewpoint . Our only concern is for our families . We are bewildered and frightened by what is being done to them .

Their human rights are being violated and the fabric of our family life is being torn apart . And then it says what specifically is being done to our relatives . These are the sad and terrible facts . All decisions in Jonestown are made by one man , jim Jones .

There is no democracy , there is no dissent permitted , armed guards stationed around Jonestown to prevent anyone leaving unless given express permission by the leader . 200 guns have been transported in a SWAT team patrols the borders of Jonestown .

Passports and monies are confiscated by Jones upon arrival of his members in Guyana so that they cannot be cleared by the immigration officials to leave Guyana . Long distance telephone calls to the United States are prohibited as part of Jones' campaign that all family ties be cut in favour of his cause . All incoming and outgoing mail is censored .

No one is permitted to leave Jonestown except on business for the cause , and then only in the company of other residents who are required to spy and report back to Jones . The residents are told that if they try to leave the People's Temple organisation they will be killed and their bodies left in the jungle .

Their leader , jim Jones , says publicly that a unanimous vote of the 1000 residents of Jonestown , including children , was taken to put our lives on the line if the alleged harassment continues . Jones has held mock mass suicide sessions to condition his members to die for the cause .

At the moment , he gives the order , and then it goes on to say we're asking for help and this is the help that we want . Some of it is just , you know , they want somebody basically to go out and check Jonestown .

So this flyer made its way to Congress and word got out to Congressman Leo Ryan about the mistreatment of people's temple members , like the inadequate housing , the poor food rations , the abuse , and he went around and he gathered testimonies from other temple defectors and the concerned relatives group and in November 1978 he led a fact-finding mission to Guyana to

investigate the goings on at people's temple . And people said that Congressman Leo Ryan was somebody that he didn't take any nonsense . He'd been voted into office something like four times . He was a very well respected congressman and he wasn't easily intimidated and he often went to quite dangerous places and he wasn't particularly bothered about it .

What he was bothered about was getting to the truth behind Jonestown . But news of the congressman's approach and this fact-finding mission reached Jim and he tried on numerous occasions to thwart the visit .

He went so far as to contact the Guyana Embassy and spun lies about congressman Leo Ryan and tried to get him sort of refused entry into Guyana and that obviously failed .

He warned the people's temple that congressman Ryan was coming to disrupt their lives , to steal their children and to take them back to the US where , according to him , they would be put into slavery and into concentration camps . In the days leading up to this visit , he coached people on what to say .

When the delegation arrived there's no doubt about that he talked to them about what to say , how much food they were getting , how happy they were . Before the congressman arrived . He actually took some of the members that were more vocal and more outspoken about the fact that they weren't getting on it at Jonestown .

He took them and sedated them so they couldn't go up to the congressman and tell them all of these supposed lies about what was going on .

over life . Outside of Jonestown , on the 14th of November 1978 , congressman Leo Ryan , an NBC news crew , several newspaper reporters and some temple defectors and the some people from the concerned relatives group arrived by airplane at Port Kaituma Airport in Guyana . They were then taken into Jonestown by this one dirt road .

But what happened was when they went to land at Port Kaituma it was too muddy the runway but it was too muddy , so the airplane had to kind of swoop around to come in at a different angle and as it swooped around it went over Jonestown .

Oh , and what was said by the news reporters and the crew and everybody else was that it became increasingly obvious to them how remote Jonestown was , how inaccessible Jonestown was .

So once they landed there , they were then taken by I think they were called like the Red Guard Army or something like that from Jonestown Right , and they basically picked up this delegation and brought them back to Jonestown . And when this delegation arrived , they were met by this almost staged happiness and staged like welcome party .

There were children playing really nicely , playing basketball , and there were children just sat watching the TV and they were really . They were welcomed in with open arms and a reception was held to welcome this delegation and to welcome Congressman Leo Ryan . The Jonestown band was playing , there was music and there was , you know , joy like I say .

Oh , there was so much like gospel joy there and people explained how happy they were at Jonestown and how it was the happiest time of their lives . Children expressed their views that they never wanted to go back to the US and when they were asked if they had any thoughts of leaving , people laughed and they said what ? Why would we want to leave Jonestown ?

This is paradise here , this is freedom here . And Ryan confronted Jim about some of the rumors that were on this flyer from the concerned relatives and he said to Jim do you have guns here ? And he said no , why would we have guns here ? And he said do you have armed guards here that don't let people leave ?

And he said no , if people want to leave , they're more than welcome to leave . Anybody that wants to leave can leave . So Congressman Ryan stands up in the centre of this party that's being held in this pavilion and he's got a microphone in his hand and he says he's here to investigate the ongoing reports of abuse at Jonestown .

But from first impressions he can honestly say how happy everybody is there and , despite what people have said in the rumors , some people at Jonestown have said to him that this is the best thing that's ever happened to them in their entire lives and everybody claps and cheers and like , yeah , this is the best thing that's ever happened to us in our entire lives

. However , that evening a note is slipped into one of the camera crew's arms and he's asked to make its way to Congressman Ryan , which it did . And the note said dear Congressman Vernon Gosney and Monica Bagby , please help us get out of Jonestown .

So the next day , november 18th 1978 , congressman Ryan confronts Jim Jones about the crime of violence and he grunts Jim Jones about this note that has been passed to him and Jim takes the note and he kind of looks at it and he just kind of throws it away and he says people play games , they're liars . What can I do about liars ?

If people want to get out of here , they can get out of here . I bet it was fuming , fuming and as news of the note spread amongst the people's temple , more and more people started coming forward and expressing how unhappy they were and their desire to leave Jonestown .

And Jim , there was a lady and seven members of her family that wanted to defect and Jim said to her I beg you to stay , I'll give you your passports and I'll give you this and I'll give you that if you stay . And she said I just didn't trust him . No , and as soon as the congressman's gone , things would change .

So Jim didn't try and stop any of those that wanted to leave . Once they'd said this is it , we're going to leave , jim didn't try and stop them and the congressman was adamant that anybody that wanted to leave Jonestown should be able to leave Jonestown . But that would mean that they would need another plane because they didn't have enough room , oh God .

So it was radioed in . They radioed in to get another plane . Jim had planned to let the defectors go ahead . They were the priority and he wanted them to get on the plane and the and he would actually wait behind . He would stay there for another day and he would go around the camp to get as many people as he could that wanted to leave Jonestown .

However , he was before that . Any of that happened , before any of the defectors could leave , and the congressman was attacked . Out of the crowd a man emerged with a knife and he grabbed the congressman from behind and he put the knife to his neck and he'd said to him Motherfucker , you're going to die .

But before he could commit to murdering Ryan , other temple members and the defectors , they tackled this man to the ground and the congressman got free . So that was it . They was like we need to leave Jonestown . The atmosphere there had turned violent and they needed to get out .

But just before they did that , there was one last defector that wanted to come with them , a guy named Larry Layton . He was an active member of the People's Temple and he was an outspoken member of the People's Temple and he was a fanatical lover of Jim Jones Right . The other defectors were immediately suspicious .

They had seen Larry Layton and Jim Jones in the playground before congressmen had arrived and they said that whatever their meeting was about , it ended in a hug . So they were incredibly suspicious and they warned congressman Ryan not to let Larry Layton on the plane with them . But the congressman was like no , if he wants to leave , he can leave .

Anybody who wants to leave Jonestown should have the opportunity to do so . So , with Larry now on board , the congressman and 16 other defectors took their transport back to the Airstrip at Port Katuma where there were now two small aircrafts waiting and the defectors were first .

People started boarding the plane Larry Layton and the two defectors that had passed that note to the congressman , camerman .

They got on the plane with Larry Layton and while they were waiting for all the baggage to be loaded and for people to kind of get on the plane , congressman Ryan and his news crew and the Camerman were still on the ground kind of waiting to board and the Camerman's got his camera on and he's trying to catch some last minute footage of people leaving Jonestown .

You know this is quite a big thing . They'd come there to investigate Jonestown and now they actually had people that wanted to leave because of these rumors were true . Yeah , so this Camerman is filming everybody kind of getting onto the plane , but then what he captures next is just completely unexpected .

From the direction of Jonestown , a red tractor pulling a flat trailer arrived and parked up adjacent to the aircraft . Out of the trailer , six armed men popped up and began open firing at everyone .

The Camerman captured a few seconds of this on tape before he was shot and he falls to the ground with his camera , where the camera continues to film for a few more seconds as more shots are being fired off before the camera cuts out .

In the first plane , larry Layton sees the arrival of the gunmen and he pulls out a concealed weapon and he shoots some of the passengers of the plane and the pilot and people heard these gunshots and they fled . You know , they went wherever they could . Some ran into the jungle and they just kept running .

Some people had already been shot and wounded by these gunshots and still kept on running into the jungle . Congressman Ryan , you can hear , I think , on the camera before the camera cuts off . You can hear him saying I've been shot and he goes down holding his neck and once the attack dies down , the armed men went around the plane .

They execution style shot anyone that they thought could still be alive . Congressman Ryan suffered 20 bullet wounds to his body and one to his face . Five people died at the airstrip that day Congressman Leo Ryan , photographer Greg Robinson , cameraman Bob Brown , reporter Don Harris from the NBC and temple defector Patricia Parks .

Many more were seriously wounded and left for dead on the airfield and many others fled into the jungle . Meanwhile , back at Jonestown , after the congressman had left the complex , people were told to go back to their quarters and remain there , and there was an air of quiet , calm among the people .

The speaker phones crackled to life and into the silence Jim's calm voice came out to the people . White night , white night , white night . All members report to the pavilion . People made their way calmly to the pavilion . They waited for their leader to address them , as he had done so many times before .

Jim made his way slowly up to the platform and clicked on the audio cassette to record .

Not only we're in a compound situation , not only are there those who have left and committed the betrayal of the century . It's time to stole them from others and then to shoot right now to kill them because they stole their children . And we are sitting here waiting on a powder cake . I don't think this is what we want to do with our babies .

I don't think that's what we had in mind to do with our babies . It was death by the greatest of prophets From time immemorial .

They're going to shoot that pilot and down comes that plane into the jungle and we better not have any of our children left when it's over , because they'll parachute in here on us . I'm going to be just as plain as I know how to tell you . I've never lied to you . I've never lied to you . I know what's going to happen .

So my opinion is that we be kind to children and be kind to seniors and take the potion like they used to in ancient Greece and step over quietly , because we are not committing suicide . It's a revolutionary act . He asks anyone with a dissenting opinion to come forward and speak their mind and a woman in her 60s comes forward , christine Miller .

She speaks out against Jim and she questions promises that he had made to them , promises that their life at Jonestown , if their life at Jonestown was ever in danger . They could go to Russia and Jim says that Russia is no longer willing to have them due to the bad stigma and lies and rumors that have been created .

Jim says he's a prophet and knows that what will Russia will say . Christine argues that 20 defectors aren't worth the lives of 1200 people . But Jonestown shuts her down and he says 1200 people's lives in my hands and I certainly don't want your life in my hands . I'm going to tell you , christine , without me life has no meaning .

I'm the best thing you'll ever have . Christine answers and says when we destroy ourselves , we let our enemies win . And she tries to reason with Jim about the children and babies . But other members speak up from the crowd and ridicule Christine and her thinking and she is soon quieted down . One man is crying and he says we're all ready to go .

If you tell us we have to give our lives now we're ready . At least the rest of the sisters and brothers are with me .

At this point the tractor and the flatbed trailer pull up and armed guard runs into the pavilion and onto the stage to whisper into Jim's ear and Jim says it's all over . The congressman is dead . He asks the doctors to bring out the medication . He explains to people that it is quick and there are no convulsions .

He orders people to hurry and tells them that the government will descend upon Jonestown in no time and they don't want to be there when they arrive . Some armed guards bring out a large steel barrel of liquid , the great flavor flavorade they'd practiced their mock mass suicides with before . Seeing this barrel wasn't a shock .

Seeing the liquid in the barrel wasn't a shock . This had all happened before , except this time the liquid was laced with cyanide and a concoction of other deadly drugs . Jima hurries everyone to come forward and form a single line , women with babies and children first . First in the queue was a 20 year old mother carrying her small infant child .

She takes the syringe handed to her , fills it with the deadly liquid and squirts it into her baby's mouth . She then fills a cup and drinks the liquid herself . She is then led by the hand outside of the pavilion with her screaming baby .

A nurse instructs the older children to help the smaller children fill their syringes and if they won't drink it , they're forced . The pavilion is soon filled with screaming and crying children and the nurse tells everyone they aren't crying from pain . They're crying because the liquid tastes bitter .

People are urged to leave the pavilion once they had drunk the poison , but as parents watched their children die , panic began to erupt . Jim cries out from the stage . Please , for god's sake , let's get on with it . We've lived . We've lived as no other people have lived and loved . We've had as much of this world as we're gonna get .

Let's just be done with it . Let's be done with the agony of it . It's not clear if members believe this was another mock suicide or not , but the mounting dead bodies soon confirmed it was not . The dead were dragged outside of the pavilion and laid to rest face down with their loved ones .

This was to give the impression that they died at peace , but that was anything but the reality . One survivor watched his wife and baby as they died in his arms and commented that he didn't realize . Cyanide made you foam at the mouth . People tried to leave the pavilion in panic , but the place was surrounded by armed guards .

It was either died by poison or died by shooting . Children were forcefully made to consume the drink and if it was spat out , people held their mouth and nose closed . If adults refused to drink it , they were forcefully injected with the poison . People were found with puncture marks in parts of their bodies that they couldn't reach .

Families drank together and laid together waiting for death , and when the body count started to rise uncontrollably , people were laid on top of others . Jim speaks to the members throughout on this tape and he gets more and more agitated by people's behavior . Lay down your life with dignity , don't lay down with tears and agony . There's nothing to death .

It's like Mack said , it's just stepping over onto another plane . Don't be this way . Stop the hysterics . This is not the way for people who are socialist or communists to die . No way for us to die . We must die with some dignity . He tells people to keep their emotions out of it , to control their children , stop them from crying .

He tells the children it won't hurt . Other church members are heard talking on the tape . They are thanking Jim . One man says the way the children are laying there now . I'd rather see them lay like that than to see them have to die like the Jews did , which was pitiful anyhow , and I'd just like to thank dad for giving us life and also death .

As the tape continues to run , it gets quieter and quieter and he ends the tape by saying we didn't commit suicide . We committed an act of revolutionary suicide protesting the conditions of an inhumane world . 909 people died in the pavilion that day , including Jim Jones , who died of a single gunshot wound to the head .

300 of those that died were below the age of 17 . But the deaths didn't stop there . Some temple members were away in the capital of Guyana , in Georgetown , where there was another temple headquarters , and they were away playing basketball . This included three of Jim's children .

An announcement came over the tannoy and told the remaining members that they must commit revolutionary suicide . One member took her three children into a bathroom and slit their throats before slitting her own . The rest feared attacks from other temple members and fled to the US embassy in Guyana to report what was happening .

85 members of the temple survived , including those away in Georgetown . Some fled into the jungle as the white night began . An elderly lady slept through the white night alert and , upon waking , finding everyone gone , she hid under her bed .

One man managed to hide in a ditch , and three of Jim's inner circle had been instructed to carry a suitcase of money to the Russian embassy in Guyana and then commit suicide .

After which they did not , and I'm going to end this episode with an anonymous note that was found in amongst the dead at Jonestown and it reads to whomever finds this note , collect all the tapes , all the writing , all the history , the story of this movement , this action must be examined over and over .

It must be understood in all of its incredible dimensions . Words fail . We have pledged our lives to this great cause . We are proud to have something to die for . We do not fear death . We hope that the world will someday realize the ideals of brotherhood , justice and equality that Jim Jones has lived and died for . We've all chosen to die for this cause .

We know there is no way that we can avoid misinterpretation , but Jim Jones and his movement were born too soon . The world was not ready to let us live thank you that's what happened in Jonestown it's awful gosh , it's so awful , isn't it ?

And it just goes to show that , actually , the people that weren't in Jonestown at the time didn't take that instruction to commit suicide . They fled and they reported it . And yeah , it was just just so awful and I had no idea what I was getting into when I started this story no .

I had no idea about any of these and I respect that it is incredibly difficult to listen to , but I do think also it's incredibly important to share these historical problems ? Yeah , definitely absolutely , but I think Willem and the episode there yeah , or everyone

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