Jim Jones was an infamous American cult leader who was responsible for the Jonestown Massacre, a horrific case of mass murder and suicide. In 1978, Jim Jones ordered his followers to consume cyanide laced fruit punch. He pushed them to end their lives in what he called a “revolutionary suicide.” The victims of the tragedy were part of Jonestown, a commune that Jones created to isolate his followers. He claimed to protect them from the threats of the outside world.
Disclaimer: The article contains mentions of murder and suicide. Readers’ discretion is advised.
In 1955, Jim Jones started a Pentecostal Church in Indianapolis, his church, the Peoples Temple, Jones’ church, became a popular symbol of communist activism. The Peoples Temple was relocated into a part of a Guyanese forest in 1977. The area was converted into an agricultural society. This isolated community that he claimed was a utopian set up. He claimed to design the space to protect his followers from a ‘nuclear holocaust,’ soon came to be known as Jonestown. Jonestown turned hostile to the outside world and began to be guarded by use of weapons.
Rehearsals of mass suicide, brutal labour and violence, rose significant suspicions about the activity of the cult. Leo Ryan, a California Congressman initiated the formation of a delegation to probe for details of the activity in Jonestown. When the delegation arrived in Jonestown in 1978, many members made it clear that they wanted to leave Jonestown, as reported by the FBI records. Jim Jones’ close followers opened fire on the delegates and shot Leo Ryan dead.
After he announced Ryan’s death, Jim Jones called for the ‘white night.’ The members of Jonestown sacrificed themselves as part of a “revolutionary suicide.”
How many people died in Jim Jones’ massacre?
The Jonestown massacre was the most tragic incident of mass murder and suicide in American history, before the terror attacks on September 11, 2001. The tragedy infamously claimed 918 lives with more than 300 being children. The children were poisoned and allegedly suffered for hours before they died. They received cyanide punch and syringes. Some members willingly took their lives and other being brutally coerced into the procedure. Jim Jones also died that day of a single gunshot in the head which is believed to be self-inflicted.
The Peoples Temple mustered over 9000 followers, who engaged in social work and preached racial integration. The Guardian notes that the sound racial integration that the Peoples Temple, led by Jim Jones, practised has remained unmatched even over four decades later. He claimed to be an incarnation of Christ, Buddha and various other divine figures. His followers also believed that Jones had divine and healing powers. Regular propaganda was an integral element of the cult alongside unpaid labor.
Under 100 members of Jonestown survived the tragic incident. The escape was a result of being away from the crime scene. Those who resisted the poison were allegedly forced to consume it. Jim Jones also recorded a ‘death tape’ in which he justified the revolutionary suicide and the FBI later recovered the tapes. Around 400 civilians who died in Jonestown are now buried in a mass grave in Oakland, California.
‘Truth and Lies: Jonestown, Paradise Lost’ is a documentary film that aired on ABC September 2018. 40 years after the tragic Jonestown Massacre, the movie digs deeper into what happened in Jonestown and the events that led up to the massacre.
