Jonestown Suicide (or was it a massacre?)

Introduction Two decades ago an unusual series of events led to the deaths of more than 900 people in the middle of a South American jungle. Though dubbed a "massacre," what transpired at Jonestown on November 18, 1978, was to some extent done willingly, making the mass suicide all the more disturbing.

Cult Leader – Rev. Jim Jones The Jonestown cult (officially named the "People's Temple") was founded in 1955 by Indianapolis preacher James Warren Jones. Jones, who had no formal theological training, based his liberal ministry on a combination of religious and socialist philosophies.

A New Community Needed Rev. Jim Jones was disliked in Indianapolis. After relocating to California in 1965, his church grew in numbers and spoke out about their strange religious and political ideas. With a financial investigation into and lots of bad press about his ‘church’, Jones urged his congregation to join him in a new, isolated community where they could escape American capitalism—and criticism—and practice a more communal way of life. Welcome to Jonestown

Jonestown - Guyana In 1977, Jones and many of his followers relocated to Jonestown, located on a tract of land the People's Temple had purchased and begun to develop in Guyana three years earlier.

What was the camp like? Everybody had to give their money to Jones. Everybody worked to keep the camp self-sufficient. Parents would publicly beat their children for transgressions. Husbands and wives would be required to punish each other. There were no disagreement since rules were clearly laid down by Jones. Nobody left the commune because they would have to admit they were wrong to begin with – and they no longer had any money to support themselves. Jones introduced ‘outside threats’ which he took care of to enforce his position as a protective father figure.

It’s a Cult not a Church!!!!! Relatives of cult members soon grew concerned and requested that the U.S. government rescue what they believed to be brainwashed victims living in concentration camp-like conditions under Jones's power. Relatives described them as living zombies. They petitioned the US Government to do something.

Congressman Ryan Investigates Relatives of the ‘cult’ disappeared in the Guyana jungle looking for them; People could not contact their relatives. There were social security irregularities about the community; Human rights were being violated; People were being held against their will; People were being brainwashed; In June 1978 Debbie Blakey, a defector from “Jonestown,” claimed that the community at “Jonestown” had, on a number of occasions, rehearsed for a mass suicide.

Congressman Ryan Visits In November 1978 Congressman Leo Ryan went to Guyana to Jonestown to interview its inhabitants. After having his life threatened by a Temple member during the first day of his visit, Ryan cut his trip short and attempted to return to the U.S. with some of the Jonestown residents. As they boarded their plane, a group of Jones's guards opened fire on them, killing Ryan and four others.

Some Escaped Some members of Ryan's party escaped, however. Upon learning this, Jones told his followers that Ryan's murder would make it impossible for their commune to continue functioning.

No other option… suicide! Rather than return to the United States, the People's Temple would preserve their church by making the ultimate sacrifice: their own lives. Jones's 912 followers were given a deadly concoction of purple Kool-Aid mixed with cyanide, sedatives, and tranquilizers.

Even the children… There were babies and children at the Guyana compound as well. They were forced to drink Kool Aid laced with the cyanide poison by their parents. It is thought that very few people argued against the suicide attempt.

Rev. Jim Jones Jones apparently shot himself in the head after the cyanide had taken effect on the rest of the compound. The whole world was rocked by the apparent voluntary suicide of over 900 people.

Was Jonestown a CIA Mind Control Camp? According to one of these theories, “Jonestown” may have been a continuation of a CIA mind-control program that infiltrated cults, such as The People’s Temple, to carry out their experiments.

Not everybody died – why? The official report stated that there were approximately 1100 people at “Jonestown” at the time of the massacre but other reports claim that there were closer to Of this number there were 913 dead bodies found and 167 survivors. Twenty people are left unaccounted for. Were these the assassins of Ryan and was it a government cover-up?

Anti-CIA Senator! Ryan’s murder is viewed as being more sinister than the behaviour of a madman. Ryan had been a strong critic of the CIA and was the author of the Hughes- Ryan Act which would have made that the CIA report all of its covert operations before they commenced. Soon after Ryan’s death, the Act was stopped in Congress. Was Ryan killed to prevent the Act passing and the massacre at “Jonestown” merely a smoke screen to distract attention away from Ryan’s murder?

No autopsy – very hush hush! The CIA were first on the scene after the massacre and they gave strict instructions that no autopsy of the suicide victims take place.

Not a suicide… Examinations conducted by the coroner Mootoo revealed that as many as 700 of the victims were murders. Mootoo claimed that he examined the bodies of 137 victims. They had all been injected with cyanide in areas of their bodies unreachable by their own hand, such as between the shoulder blades.

Green Berets – why were they so close? One of the Green Berets who were the first American troops at the camp, claimed that “We saw many bullet wounds as well as wounds from crossbow bolts.” Those who were shot appeared to have been running toward the jungle, away from the compound, at the time they were shot. Many people have speculated that maybe 500 people had escaped the voluntary suicide and escaped into the jungle, but were hunted down and murdered. There were obvious signs that many of the bodies had been dragged to their final resting place.

But who did it? The major questions are: “Was it the Green Berets that killed over almost 1100 people in the Guyana jungle to cover up for killing Leo Ryan and destroy an Anti-CIA Act?” or “Did Jones order the missing men to kill any of his cult followers that refused to take the cyanide laced Kool Aid?”