WEBVTT 1 00:00:13.560 --> 00:00:16.320 It's really it's the most beautiful place I've ever been 2 00:00:16.359 --> 00:00:17.719 in all my life. 3 00:00:17.800 --> 00:00:20.359 I really appreciate being here, being able to work under 4 00:00:20.399 --> 00:00:21.120 father's direction. 5 00:00:26.440 --> 00:00:27.960 How long you would you like to stay? 6 00:00:28.120 --> 00:00:28.920 Keep it clever? 7 00:00:32.320 --> 00:00:37.039 Jim Jones became a control freak, a tyrant, a liar. 8 00:00:37.600 --> 00:00:39.079 It was an emotional breakdown. 9 00:00:40.840 --> 00:00:44.240 People's symbol didn't start that way. It was a slow 10 00:00:44.439 --> 00:00:47.439 evolving into what it became in the end. 11 00:00:49.560 --> 00:00:50.159 Nightmare. 12 00:00:51.280 --> 00:00:58.520 Nightmare, a place of paradise that became a hell for 13 00:00:58.640 --> 00:01:35.640 hundreds of people who put faith in him. 14 00:01:35.680 --> 00:01:39.359 It's the late nineteen sixties. The United States is a 15 00:01:39.439 --> 00:01:44.079 country in turmoil. The generation gap emerges as the youth 16 00:01:44.120 --> 00:01:48.879 of America voices fierce opposition to the Vietnam War and 17 00:01:48.959 --> 00:01:54.159 demands civil rights, gender equality, and social change. The sexual 18 00:01:54.239 --> 00:01:59.319 Revolution is in full swing. In this time of great upheaval, 19 00:01:59.840 --> 00:02:07.040 in influential figure stepped in to lead counter culture movements. 20 00:02:07.079 --> 00:02:11.520 A dynamic leader named Jim Jones offers wide ranging solutions 21 00:02:11.919 --> 00:02:15.360 that strike a chord with many of these disaffected young people. 22 00:02:15.879 --> 00:02:19.560 Jones seems to really understand their pressing concerns. 23 00:02:20.159 --> 00:02:24.479 I had never seen a pastor that was cursing out 24 00:02:24.479 --> 00:02:27.479 of the bulpit. I just had never seen that. But 25 00:02:27.960 --> 00:02:30.199 even though I thought he was an entertainer, he was 26 00:02:30.439 --> 00:02:35.360 very interesting. I felt enthusiastic about some of the things 27 00:02:35.360 --> 00:02:38.560 that he said, and he was charismatic. 28 00:02:41.280 --> 00:02:45.120 His message is more than just religious. Jones preaches a 29 00:02:45.199 --> 00:02:51.800 more egalitarian society where all are included, regardless of race, gender, 30 00:02:52.199 --> 00:02:53.360 or social class. 31 00:02:54.879 --> 00:02:59.879 I had always been involved and interested in left to 32 00:03:00.199 --> 00:03:03.919 movements and anything that was progressive. Since I was estranged 33 00:03:03.960 --> 00:03:07.439 from my family, the church became my family. They became 34 00:03:07.479 --> 00:03:08.039 my support. 35 00:03:08.199 --> 00:03:12.400 Why I became my own brand of Marxist scratch. Looking 36 00:03:12.400 --> 00:03:15.199 in the childhood would I could talk as. 37 00:03:15.000 --> 00:03:16.319 Well as I think. 38 00:03:17.080 --> 00:03:19.840 That's persumptious, But thoughts move rapidly than mine. 39 00:03:20.360 --> 00:03:22.840 It was difficult to capture them, to type them, to 40 00:03:22.840 --> 00:03:31.560 liberalize it. Jim Jones was born on May thirteenth, nineteen 41 00:03:31.639 --> 00:03:36.719 thirty one, in the tiny town of Crete, Indiana. As 42 00:03:36.759 --> 00:03:40.080 an only child, he spends a lot of time alone 43 00:03:40.680 --> 00:03:44.360 wandering the streets of his small town, but one day, 44 00:03:44.840 --> 00:03:47.879 a neighbor woman takes him to the church. This becomes 45 00:03:47.919 --> 00:03:50.479 the turning point in Jones' life. 46 00:03:52.719 --> 00:03:56.080 So he fell in love with this idea of becoming 47 00:03:56.360 --> 00:04:01.400 a preacher and while other kids would play doctor, impatient, 48 00:04:01.719 --> 00:04:06.879 or school, Jim Jones would start playing preacher and congregate 49 00:04:07.080 --> 00:04:08.280 with his buddies. 50 00:04:10.439 --> 00:04:14.520 While still a teenager, his parents' divorce and Jones moved 51 00:04:14.520 --> 00:04:18.519 with his mother to Richmond, Indiana, a racially segregated city, 52 00:04:19.079 --> 00:04:22.920 and Jim Jones decides to take a stand against this injustice. 53 00:04:24.000 --> 00:04:27.399 He would stand out on a street corner and preach 54 00:04:27.560 --> 00:04:31.120 this message to African Americans who were passing by. So 55 00:04:31.279 --> 00:04:36.360 he was able to adopt this message from the Bible 56 00:04:36.439 --> 00:04:41.439 about equality and Christian inclusion and all are welcome and 57 00:04:41.680 --> 00:04:46.480 find a ready crowd of listeners who wanted to hear this. 58 00:04:49.399 --> 00:04:53.319 In nineteen forty nine, when Jim Jones is just eighteen, 59 00:04:54.000 --> 00:04:59.399 he marries Marcelene Baldwin, and two years later the couple 60 00:04:59.480 --> 00:05:03.800 moved to an Indianapolis, where Jones attends meetings at the 61 00:05:03.800 --> 00:05:07.680 local chapter of the Communist Party and he embraces the 62 00:05:07.720 --> 00:05:09.399 ideals of Marxism. 63 00:05:09.920 --> 00:05:14.480 I decided, how can I demonstrate my Marxism? 64 00:05:14.639 --> 00:05:21.040 The thought was pure great Church. Jones soon becomes a 65 00:05:21.120 --> 00:05:25.000 student minister at a local Methodist church. He starts inviting 66 00:05:25.040 --> 00:05:28.959 black families to attend Sunday services, a move that shocks 67 00:05:28.959 --> 00:05:30.959 the members of the all white congregation. 68 00:05:33.240 --> 00:05:37.120 He was essentially ousted and told that this was not okay. 69 00:05:37.720 --> 00:05:41.600 It's all fine and good for white worshipers or white 70 00:05:41.639 --> 00:05:44.639 believers to say that they believe inequality, but it was 71 00:05:44.759 --> 00:05:48.399 another thing for them to stand side by side with 72 00:05:48.600 --> 00:05:52.759 black Christians and believers sharing a Bible or a Hymno. 73 00:05:53.319 --> 00:05:55.800 So what did he do? He decided to create his 74 00:05:55.879 --> 00:05:58.120 own church where all were welcome. 75 00:06:00.000 --> 00:06:04.600 Eeighteen fifty four, Jones establishes the Community Unity Church and 76 00:06:04.759 --> 00:06:09.000 encourages all races to attend his services. Around this time, 77 00:06:09.399 --> 00:06:12.279 Jones witnesses a faith healing service at a Seventh day 78 00:06:12.319 --> 00:06:16.199 Adventist Baptist church. He sees how faith healing attracts people 79 00:06:16.600 --> 00:06:20.680 and their money. Motivated by this income, he brings this 80 00:06:20.839 --> 00:06:22.600 practice into his services. 81 00:06:23.800 --> 00:06:26.839 I became a member, of course, of the choir. I 82 00:06:27.000 --> 00:06:28.040 joined the church. 83 00:06:28.720 --> 00:06:32.279 I would go out on Saturdays like a dutiful little 84 00:06:32.720 --> 00:06:36.040 member of People's Temple with the can and I would 85 00:06:36.040 --> 00:06:40.959 stand on corners go to neighbors in the area that 86 00:06:41.040 --> 00:06:44.920 we lived in in San Francisco, begging for donations to 87 00:06:45.040 --> 00:06:50.759 support the ministry of People's Temple. There are hundreds of 88 00:06:50.839 --> 00:06:54.000 us doing the same thing all over San Francisco was 89 00:06:54.079 --> 00:06:58.120 being reduplicated. In Los Angeles, it was being duplicated in 90 00:06:58.639 --> 00:06:59.639 Redwood Valley. 91 00:07:00.079 --> 00:07:02.800 Anywhere. Anyone who came in contact. 92 00:07:02.360 --> 00:07:06.279 With People's Temple that ultimately became a member felt that 93 00:07:06.279 --> 00:07:09.639 that was one of their areas of responsibility. 94 00:07:10.959 --> 00:07:14.240 Jones and his wife set an example for the congregation 95 00:07:14.720 --> 00:07:19.800 by adopting multiracial children, calling themselves the Rainbow Family. The 96 00:07:19.920 --> 00:07:26.600 racial backlash against him is intense. Undaunted, Jones renames his 97 00:07:26.720 --> 00:07:32.000 church the People's Temple and expands his community activities. He 98 00:07:32.040 --> 00:07:36.079 opens a soup kitchen and organizes clothing distribution for the needy. 99 00:07:36.959 --> 00:07:42.800 Jim Jones starts to get positive media attention. They view 100 00:07:42.879 --> 00:07:46.000 him as a civil rights leader in turbulent times. 101 00:07:47.879 --> 00:07:50.480 He could speak to anyone. When he could speak to 102 00:07:50.560 --> 00:07:53.720 revolutionary and say we can change the world, and he 103 00:07:53.759 --> 00:07:55.360 could speak to an atheist and say you don't have 104 00:07:55.360 --> 00:07:58.920 to believe in God. Whatever he spoke about with the 105 00:07:59.040 --> 00:08:02.360 power and passion and that he did it with inspired 106 00:08:02.399 --> 00:08:07.199 everyone and would make people just clap and sing and 107 00:08:07.279 --> 00:08:10.920 shout and joyful. It was an amazing experience. 108 00:08:13.720 --> 00:08:18.240 But despite his growing success, everything changes for Jim Jones 109 00:08:18.600 --> 00:08:24.680 when he receives a terrifying vision. At a time when 110 00:08:24.720 --> 00:08:29.480 segregation has many Americans feeling excluded and oppressed, a young 111 00:08:29.639 --> 00:08:34.279 charismatic religious leader named Jim Jones brings a message of hope. 112 00:08:34.399 --> 00:08:38.679 He founds the People's Temple, a rapidly growing movement who 113 00:08:38.759 --> 00:08:42.000 stands for a fair society where all people can live 114 00:08:42.120 --> 00:08:47.200 as equals, regardless of race, gender, or class, challenging the 115 00:08:47.279 --> 00:08:51.200 dominant prejudices that still divide society in the nineteen fifties 116 00:08:51.240 --> 00:08:55.919 and sixties, becoming not only a successful preacher but also 117 00:08:56.120 --> 00:09:01.720 a praised human rights activist. The Cold War between the 118 00:09:01.879 --> 00:09:05.519 US and the Soviet Union is escalating, a conflict that 119 00:09:05.559 --> 00:09:09.120 has a deep effect on Jones, causing him to experience 120 00:09:09.320 --> 00:09:11.200 terrifying nightmares. 121 00:09:11.240 --> 00:09:14.919 And in nineteen sixty five, he told people that he 122 00:09:14.960 --> 00:09:17.919 had a vision that a bomb was going to fall 123 00:09:18.279 --> 00:09:20.960 on the Midwest and that they had to get out. 124 00:09:25.919 --> 00:09:28.559 Jones and one hundred and forty of his congregants pack 125 00:09:28.639 --> 00:09:32.440 up and travel in a caravan of cars from Indiana 126 00:09:32.519 --> 00:09:34.159 to Redwood Valley, California. 127 00:09:36.200 --> 00:09:39.240 The real story behind that move is he is trying 128 00:09:39.279 --> 00:09:43.000 to figure out who really believes in his message. 129 00:09:43.200 --> 00:09:48.519 The People's Temple establishes a socialist style commune. Their message 130 00:09:48.600 --> 00:09:52.519 resonates with Californians and they are soon joined by new 131 00:09:52.600 --> 00:09:56.600 congregants from all over the state. These new members are 132 00:09:56.639 --> 00:09:59.360 asked to dedicate most of their free time to working 133 00:09:59.360 --> 00:10:00.200 for the community. 134 00:10:01.519 --> 00:10:04.840 I started doing security at night, even while I was pregnant. 135 00:10:05.120 --> 00:10:09.360 There was letter writing campaigns at night. It might go 136 00:10:09.399 --> 00:10:11.519 into the wee hours of the morning, and you had 137 00:10:11.519 --> 00:10:14.600 to go to school. I remember taking notos all night 138 00:10:14.639 --> 00:10:17.000 long because I had a chemistry text the next day, 139 00:10:17.039 --> 00:10:19.240 and I knew I couldn't go to sleep. And so 140 00:10:19.279 --> 00:10:22.200 that's the stress that we were under making sure that 141 00:10:22.240 --> 00:10:26.000 we performed and making Jim happy. 142 00:10:27.000 --> 00:10:31.000 Another measure to support their socialist ideals is the sharing 143 00:10:31.039 --> 00:10:35.360 of wealth. Members are encouraged to not only donate their savings, 144 00:10:35.879 --> 00:10:39.559 but also their entire salaries to the common Temple fund. 145 00:10:40.759 --> 00:10:45.399 I saw most people who lived communally giving their entire checks, 146 00:10:45.720 --> 00:10:49.159 and then they were given five dollars a week. They 147 00:10:49.200 --> 00:10:52.919 would bring peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch on 148 00:10:53.000 --> 00:10:56.639 a regular basis, and then towards the end of the 149 00:10:56.679 --> 00:11:01.600 week when they would go to a church service, they 150 00:11:01.639 --> 00:11:05.480 would be begged to no end out of their five dollars, 151 00:11:05.720 --> 00:11:07.440 so then they wouldn't have any money. 152 00:11:09.559 --> 00:11:12.879 Members are also expected to share or sell their goods 153 00:11:12.919 --> 00:11:15.919 and property, with the proceeds going to the church. 154 00:11:19.120 --> 00:11:23.919 The dream or the cause was to provide a different reality, 155 00:11:24.600 --> 00:11:30.759 a positive community building experience where everybody could be a 156 00:11:30.799 --> 00:11:36.799 part of and experienced life more fully, and it wouldn't 157 00:11:36.840 --> 00:11:39.759 matter if you were a young or old, or if 158 00:11:39.759 --> 00:11:41.919 you'd had money or you didn't have money. 159 00:11:43.399 --> 00:11:48.120 Jones establishes Wednesday night Catharsis sessions where members are called 160 00:11:48.120 --> 00:11:51.360 out in front of the group for not willingly participating 161 00:11:51.360 --> 00:11:54.320 in the plan. Eventually they are punished. 162 00:11:56.480 --> 00:11:59.279 Oftentimes their punishment would be they would be hit with 163 00:11:59.399 --> 00:12:03.320 the paddle the Board of Education, as they called a 164 00:12:03.360 --> 00:12:06.919 big wooden battle, and you'd watch them get spanked. It 165 00:12:07.000 --> 00:12:10.159 would be children, it would be adults, it would. 166 00:12:09.960 --> 00:12:14.399 Be older folks, younger folks. It made no difference. 167 00:12:14.879 --> 00:12:18.120 They were being enemies of the people, enemies of the cause, 168 00:12:18.840 --> 00:12:21.919 and that so they were being punished to kind of 169 00:12:22.159 --> 00:12:27.000 put people back in line, and so that was normalized. 170 00:12:30.159 --> 00:12:33.919 I remember my first day of junior high school and 171 00:12:34.000 --> 00:12:37.240 I was talking to this girl and this young woman 172 00:12:37.399 --> 00:12:40.279 young girl comes over and she says, are you from 173 00:12:40.279 --> 00:12:44.480 People's Temple? And I said, yes, I go to People's Temple. 174 00:12:44.720 --> 00:12:46.639 She goes, so you can't talk to any other kids, 175 00:12:47.000 --> 00:12:50.080 the temple kids. So I thought that was my first 176 00:12:50.120 --> 00:12:52.360 introduction of the beginning of isolation. 177 00:12:52.879 --> 00:12:57.480 You know, it was a very isolated mentality. It's us 178 00:12:57.559 --> 00:13:01.120 versus them. It's very black and white thinking. You're either 179 00:13:01.159 --> 00:13:05.480 a friend or you're an enemy. You're a friend or foe, 180 00:13:05.759 --> 00:13:06.759 there's no in between. 181 00:13:09.879 --> 00:13:13.879 Jim jones Utopia is developing according to plan, but he 182 00:13:14.039 --> 00:13:20.840 craves more power and decides to expand further. He determines 183 00:13:20.919 --> 00:13:23.519 he needs to be in a larger city, so the 184 00:13:23.559 --> 00:13:27.320 congregation moves its headquarters into a former Masonic temple in 185 00:13:27.399 --> 00:13:31.919 San Francisco. They established a significant following in this city, 186 00:13:32.480 --> 00:13:35.879 as well as in a branch in Los Angeles. Jim 187 00:13:36.000 --> 00:13:41.000 Jones is constantly on the move, often touring nationally, yet 188 00:13:41.039 --> 00:13:44.600 he never shows any signs of fatigue. His speeches are 189 00:13:44.639 --> 00:13:46.559 always wildly energetic. 190 00:13:47.919 --> 00:13:52.559 So one day, on a bus trip from San Francisco 191 00:13:53.000 --> 00:13:59.799 to La one of his disciples, one of his closest 192 00:13:59.799 --> 00:14:04.360 social went into the bathroom and the boss and saw 193 00:14:04.440 --> 00:14:07.840 Jim Jones's toiletry bag, and inside there was a vial 194 00:14:08.519 --> 00:14:13.879 of speed. That's where his staminac came from. He was 195 00:14:13.960 --> 00:14:14.679 high on speed. 196 00:14:16.759 --> 00:14:20.600 Jones' drug use increases. He also starts to have affairs 197 00:14:20.639 --> 00:14:28.639 with both the women and men in the congregation, and. 198 00:14:28.559 --> 00:14:33.480 Then oftentimes to make sure that he kept the husband 199 00:14:33.679 --> 00:14:38.399 and the wife in alignment, he would sleep with other 200 00:14:39.879 --> 00:14:44.360 people's mates and whatnot. And he would always say he 201 00:14:44.480 --> 00:14:47.039 had to do it for the cause because they were 202 00:14:47.080 --> 00:14:49.159 getting ready to leave the church and he had to 203 00:14:49.159 --> 00:14:53.759 find some way to make them feel obligated to stay 204 00:14:54.159 --> 00:14:55.360 and work for the cause. 205 00:14:57.000 --> 00:15:01.120 On the outward face of things, he looked progressive. He 206 00:15:01.320 --> 00:15:06.480 had this message of inclusion, of equality, of social justice. 207 00:15:07.000 --> 00:15:11.000 And as he drew more and more African Americans to 208 00:15:11.039 --> 00:15:15.720 his church, some of the young people notice certain things. 209 00:15:16.159 --> 00:15:20.720 Members start to defect and Jones becomes more paranoid and manipulative. 210 00:15:23.960 --> 00:15:27.600 Coup leaders offer followers the message they want to hear, 211 00:15:29.200 --> 00:15:31.960 but once they get the loyalty of their members, they 212 00:15:32.000 --> 00:15:37.080 become controlling and abusive. One of Jones's key strategies is 213 00:15:37.120 --> 00:15:40.000 to keep his members in line in order to create 214 00:15:40.039 --> 00:15:46.080 a climate of external threat by simulating attacks. One Sunday morning, 215 00:15:46.440 --> 00:15:50.440 while leaving the church after services, congregants are shocked by 216 00:15:50.480 --> 00:15:53.240 the sound of gunshots. 217 00:15:53.879 --> 00:15:57.639 They bring them out and people are crying and gathering around. 218 00:15:58.440 --> 00:16:04.399 In what happens, he heals himself because he's becoming God. 219 00:16:06.000 --> 00:16:10.519 Another insidious form of manipulation is the requirement that anyone 220 00:16:10.559 --> 00:16:13.440 over the age of twelve must sign a blank piece 221 00:16:13.440 --> 00:16:17.120 of paper. These signed papers can later be filled out 222 00:16:17.159 --> 00:16:19.840 to incriminate them in offenses they haven't committed. 223 00:16:20.039 --> 00:16:22.120 And you did it because you did not want to 224 00:16:22.120 --> 00:16:24.679 be the member in the church that refused to do 225 00:16:24.759 --> 00:16:27.519 it and be brought up front and center on the 226 00:16:27.559 --> 00:16:33.679 stage and be ostracized, be beaten up, or maybe excommunicated. 227 00:16:34.799 --> 00:16:38.240 By this time, Jim Jones starts speaking more and more 228 00:16:38.279 --> 00:16:42.559 of unconditional loyalty to the temple, in citing his followers 229 00:16:42.559 --> 00:16:45.639 to be willing to give their lives for the socialist cause, 230 00:16:46.399 --> 00:16:49.600 and he devises cruel methods to test their loyalty. 231 00:16:50.879 --> 00:16:53.600 Then one day we had come up from eating our 232 00:16:53.639 --> 00:16:57.600 communal dinner downstairs, and he asked we all enjoyed our meals, 233 00:16:57.600 --> 00:17:00.840 and we said yeah, And then he said, well, that's good, 234 00:17:00.919 --> 00:17:02.759 because it's going to be the last one. 235 00:17:03.039 --> 00:17:04.440 We're gonna die together. 236 00:17:04.799 --> 00:17:08.839 According to Jones, the meal was poisoned, and. 237 00:17:08.880 --> 00:17:11.559 After a few minutes he laughed and he said, no, 238 00:17:11.759 --> 00:17:13.480 I didn't do that, He said, I just wanted to 239 00:17:13.519 --> 00:17:16.079 see which ones of you were really loyal and committed 240 00:17:16.119 --> 00:17:16.720 to the cause. 241 00:17:18.440 --> 00:17:21.880 Like any good manipulator, Jim Jones always knew how to 242 00:17:21.920 --> 00:17:24.400 show his followers his softer side. 243 00:17:24.920 --> 00:17:28.880 There was this sign that you saw, which is what 244 00:17:28.960 --> 00:17:32.559 people fell in love with. I believe it's so I 245 00:17:32.599 --> 00:17:36.119 got an abusive relationship. And then all of a sudden 246 00:17:36.200 --> 00:17:40.240 you see the statistic part, and you wonder, okay, well, 247 00:17:40.359 --> 00:17:41.839 I must have done something wrong. 248 00:17:43.039 --> 00:17:47.559 The congregation keeps growing, becoming an influential voting block in 249 00:17:47.599 --> 00:17:52.400 the state of California. In nineteen seventy five, local politicians 250 00:17:52.440 --> 00:17:56.160 court the movement for local elections. The temple endorses the 251 00:17:56.240 --> 00:17:59.920 campaigns of George Moscone for mayor, Harvey Milk for consulmen, 252 00:18:00.400 --> 00:18:02.759 and Joseph Fritoss for district attorney. 253 00:18:04.200 --> 00:18:07.119 And then on election day some of them actually cross 254 00:18:07.359 --> 00:18:11.440 voting lines and vote for these candidates. He gets his 255 00:18:11.559 --> 00:18:15.960 slate elected, and as a reward, George Moscone, the new mayor, 256 00:18:16.319 --> 00:18:18.279 appoints them to the housing authority. 257 00:18:19.880 --> 00:18:25.160 Jones' notoriety also attracts some unwonted attention. A private citizen 258 00:18:25.240 --> 00:18:29.599 named David Khan has several acquaintances among former temple members. 259 00:18:30.240 --> 00:18:33.880 Based on their troubling accounts, he starts a private investigation 260 00:18:33.960 --> 00:18:39.119 of the church con exposes Joanes's abusive behavior, fraudulent activities, 261 00:18:39.279 --> 00:18:43.839 and tricks to deceive his followers, including his healings and prophecies. 262 00:18:45.200 --> 00:18:52.799 He would slip little old ladies kueluds, which are potent tranquilizers, 263 00:18:52.839 --> 00:18:56.400 and knock them out, and then they would awake with 264 00:18:57.359 --> 00:19:01.160 a cast on their leg, and then people telling them, oh, 265 00:19:01.519 --> 00:19:04.920 you fell down, but it's okay, you broke your leg, 266 00:19:05.240 --> 00:19:08.200 but Father's going to heal you. They had no recollection 267 00:19:08.319 --> 00:19:11.440 of this, so they would wheel these women into the 268 00:19:11.559 --> 00:19:15.079 church and with great fanfare, Jim Jones would cut off 269 00:19:15.119 --> 00:19:18.519 their cast and then command them to get up and 270 00:19:18.559 --> 00:19:24.279 to walk in to dance. And there is a young 271 00:19:24.440 --> 00:19:27.839 reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle there, Marshall kill Duff. 272 00:19:28.559 --> 00:19:32.640 So he starts snooping around and he starts having some 273 00:19:32.759 --> 00:19:35.519 of the people who left the church come and talk 274 00:19:35.599 --> 00:19:39.079 to him about some of these things that are going 275 00:19:39.119 --> 00:19:42.680 on behind closed doors that Jim Jones doesn't want anyone 276 00:19:42.759 --> 00:19:43.519 to talk about. 277 00:19:45.160 --> 00:19:49.000 Jim Jones' influence with the media blocks the San Francisco 278 00:19:49.079 --> 00:19:52.880 Chronicle from publishing the story, but kill Duff manages to 279 00:19:52.920 --> 00:19:56.279 sell it to New West Magazine. Soon the authorities start 280 00:19:56.279 --> 00:20:00.880 to get interested in the case. Feeling that his castle 281 00:20:00.920 --> 00:20:04.359 of cards is crumbling, Jim Jones decides to make one 282 00:20:04.440 --> 00:20:08.359 final move. He takes as many followers with him as 283 00:20:08.359 --> 00:20:14.519 he can, leading them to a gruesome fate. Jim Jones' 284 00:20:14.680 --> 00:20:18.440 influence with the media blocks the San Francisco Chronicle from 285 00:20:18.440 --> 00:20:22.039 publishing the story, but Kilduff manages to sell it to 286 00:20:22.119 --> 00:20:25.759 New West Magazine. Soon the authorities start to get interested 287 00:20:25.799 --> 00:20:31.759 in the case. Feeling that his castle of cards is crumbling, 288 00:20:32.200 --> 00:20:36.359 Jim Jones decides to make one final move. He takes 289 00:20:36.400 --> 00:20:39.880 as many followers with him as he can, leading them 290 00:20:39.960 --> 00:20:41.200 to a gruesome fate. 291 00:20:44.960 --> 00:20:46.960 They have no place to go now either go to 292 00:20:47.119 --> 00:20:50.039 someplace like Cubi Promised. 293 00:20:49.720 --> 00:20:52.720 Land, which we are wanting to get out of the conflict. 294 00:20:52.279 --> 00:20:56.200 Between the capitalists and the socialist world into a free 295 00:20:56.279 --> 00:21:02.160 socialist territory in a third world. Years earlier, the socialist 296 00:21:02.240 --> 00:21:06.839 government of Guyana offers plots of land to international organizations 297 00:21:07.240 --> 00:21:09.559 with the goal of increasing the production of food in 298 00:21:09.599 --> 00:21:14.240 the country. Jim Jones takes this opportunity to expand his 299 00:21:14.400 --> 00:21:17.079 church abroad and flee from California. 300 00:21:17.960 --> 00:21:20.880 It was at that time that then we started to 301 00:21:20.920 --> 00:21:25.559 see a few members, as he called them, the pioneers, 302 00:21:26.119 --> 00:21:33.160 advancing ahead of the church members to start building and 303 00:21:33.200 --> 00:21:38.319 construction of what was going to be known as Jonestown. 304 00:21:40.039 --> 00:21:42.319 It would be a place where children can run free, 305 00:21:42.839 --> 00:21:44.799 not have to worry about crime. We be able to 306 00:21:44.880 --> 00:21:48.000 leave our doors open. We could build a community. As 307 00:21:48.039 --> 00:21:51.559 a community, grow our own food. Our seniors will be 308 00:21:51.599 --> 00:21:54.480 taken care of. Just this place of peace and harmony 309 00:21:54.480 --> 00:21:55.640 that we didn't have in the States. 310 00:21:59.279 --> 00:22:00.000 I wish I could. 311 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:02.839 I can be glad for you guys, everybody over there, 312 00:22:03.119 --> 00:22:06.279 and they come in and promising, I really do like it. 313 00:22:06.000 --> 00:22:07.119 It's fun over here. 314 00:22:07.160 --> 00:22:12.200 It's really good. The Grand Exodus of Us was in 315 00:22:12.279 --> 00:22:16.359 nineteen seventy seven. I came in March of nineteen seventy eight, 316 00:22:17.400 --> 00:22:20.079 and then everything came to an end. 317 00:22:22.079 --> 00:22:26.200 As his followers arrive in Guyana, they soon understand that 318 00:22:26.279 --> 00:22:29.559 their expectations are far from the reality. 319 00:22:30.400 --> 00:22:33.759 The first thing they asked us is for passport and money, 320 00:22:34.000 --> 00:22:36.480 so we thought we didn't have any money, and. 321 00:22:36.400 --> 00:22:39.119 They kept begging for the passports. Look along it. This 322 00:22:39.279 --> 00:22:41.599 is just the safetyeople don't trust us. 323 00:22:42.720 --> 00:22:47.279 There's not enough housing for everyone's old people are living 324 00:22:47.359 --> 00:22:50.799 in triple bunk beds, not two bunk beds, but three 325 00:22:50.880 --> 00:22:55.039 and having to climb up and falling down. You know, 326 00:22:55.160 --> 00:22:58.279 some of the cottages don't even have doors yet. 327 00:22:58.920 --> 00:23:02.839 I was assigned to a coll with maybe about twenty 328 00:23:02.839 --> 00:23:06.119 other guys in bunk beds and there was a loft. 329 00:23:06.359 --> 00:23:09.559 I fortunately got to live in a loft with another guy. 330 00:23:10.200 --> 00:23:15.039 And I was assigned to the orchard crew that worked 331 00:23:15.119 --> 00:23:19.000 on the orchards, and we worked from set up to sundown, 332 00:23:21.039 --> 00:23:24.079 like six am to six pm something like that. 333 00:23:24.200 --> 00:23:33.079 In the fields, plumbing and sanitation are primitive, with cold 334 00:23:33.119 --> 00:23:38.440 showers and no proper toilets. The heat, mosquitoes, and tropical 335 00:23:38.480 --> 00:23:43.079 diseases quickly start to take a toll. Also, the thin 336 00:23:43.200 --> 00:23:47.240 jungle soil is too acidic to plant American crops, limiting 337 00:23:47.279 --> 00:23:49.319 the variety and quantity of food. 338 00:23:51.319 --> 00:23:57.000 We never saw ground beef, we never saw steaks, we 339 00:23:57.079 --> 00:24:00.680 never saw eggs. We never had juice. We didn't have 340 00:24:00.720 --> 00:24:03.640 any of that. The only person who had it was 341 00:24:03.759 --> 00:24:04.519 Jim Jones. 342 00:24:05.640 --> 00:24:06.759 Yet all of it. 343 00:24:07.440 --> 00:24:09.720 And then manipulation starts. 344 00:24:11.480 --> 00:24:15.200 I saw that the families being broken up. I saw 345 00:24:15.480 --> 00:24:22.279 little children reporting their parents. Jim Jones's philosophy was that 346 00:24:22.799 --> 00:24:27.200 the sickest relationships are the family relationships. So you might 347 00:24:27.240 --> 00:24:30.240 be raising someone else's children. So the children were separated 348 00:24:30.279 --> 00:24:33.559 from their parents and raised by others. And it was 349 00:24:33.720 --> 00:24:38.799 just basically the technique to break the family unit so 350 00:24:39.480 --> 00:24:46.440 that loyalties to family would be transferred to loyalties to him. 351 00:24:46.640 --> 00:24:50.599 He says that they don't like living in Jonestown. They 352 00:24:50.599 --> 00:24:55.200 can swim home because he's not paying their airfare back 353 00:24:55.240 --> 00:25:03.759 to California. You're going to do. There's one Ham radio 354 00:25:04.359 --> 00:25:07.599 that's their sole line of communication with the outside world. 355 00:25:09.240 --> 00:25:13.079 Nobody can use it but Jim Jones. So there was 356 00:25:13.079 --> 00:25:18.000 a PA system in Jonestown, and whenever Jim Jones was 357 00:25:18.160 --> 00:25:22.799 voice was heard over the PA system. Everyone was expected 358 00:25:22.839 --> 00:25:24.079 to be quiet and listen. 359 00:25:27.119 --> 00:25:28.720 So absolute agitee. 360 00:25:29.559 --> 00:25:31.920 No one'll have it for you to see me. 361 00:25:33.200 --> 00:25:36.079 I like to get low and for a long time, 362 00:25:36.200 --> 00:25:38.440 you're going to see me and I like to get low, 363 00:25:39.200 --> 00:25:42.559 but I will leak upon you at any night. 364 00:25:42.720 --> 00:25:43.319 Any hour. 365 00:25:45.799 --> 00:25:49.000 It ultimately came down to when Jim Jones opened his mouth. 366 00:25:49.240 --> 00:25:51.480 Everything was a lie. 367 00:25:51.920 --> 00:25:56.079 We didn't want us to read the newspapers. We didn't 368 00:25:56.119 --> 00:26:00.400 have newspapers when we were in Jonestown either. The news 369 00:26:00.440 --> 00:26:03.319 came from him, and it was fake news, but he 370 00:26:03.400 --> 00:26:05.279 was selling it as the real deal. 371 00:26:06.240 --> 00:26:10.359 The government was going to build concentration camps to put 372 00:26:10.559 --> 00:26:13.400 black people in, that the CIA was going to come 373 00:26:13.480 --> 00:26:17.200 and get us, take the children. They knew that we 374 00:26:17.200 --> 00:26:25.279 were revolutionaries or communists or socialists, and there were factual 375 00:26:25.319 --> 00:26:28.640 things that were happening at the time that would support 376 00:26:29.039 --> 00:26:30.359 some of that thinking. 377 00:26:30.640 --> 00:26:35.359 In Jonestown, you had to be engaged. There was no 378 00:26:35.400 --> 00:26:39.400 way out, So you either had to mentally prepare yourself 379 00:26:40.200 --> 00:26:45.480 to try to pretend like everything was okay because paranoia 380 00:26:45.599 --> 00:26:46.200 was rampant. 381 00:26:46.359 --> 00:26:50.640 Oh, you would never tell anyone verbally that you knew 382 00:26:50.640 --> 00:26:51.440 something was wrong. 383 00:26:51.480 --> 00:26:53.559 You'd be afraid to even tell your mate. 384 00:26:53.599 --> 00:26:59.079 If you disobeyed the rules. You were exhibiting counter revolutionary 385 00:26:59.440 --> 00:27:06.839 behavior that was a threat to the cost of socialism, 386 00:27:06.880 --> 00:27:12.079 and so people were encouraged to report anything that was 387 00:27:12.119 --> 00:27:15.480 against the rules, which included the worst thing you could 388 00:27:15.480 --> 00:27:18.160 probably say was I want to get out of here, 389 00:27:18.400 --> 00:27:21.920 or I don't like this place, or disagree with Jones 390 00:27:22.000 --> 00:27:25.000 in any way whatsoever. 391 00:27:28.160 --> 00:27:32.480 And the corporal punishment became more severe over the years. 392 00:27:32.200 --> 00:27:32.359 And. 393 00:27:35.440 --> 00:27:40.720 We went then beyond beatings into literally what would be 394 00:27:40.799 --> 00:27:45.279 considered what you would do to a slave. It was 395 00:27:45.440 --> 00:27:51.039 just the worst horrible type of cruelty and punishment that 396 00:27:51.119 --> 00:27:53.680 a human being could expect or self. 397 00:27:57.799 --> 00:28:02.359 And in the worst case scenarios, people who complained or 398 00:28:02.400 --> 00:28:07.319 stood up to him, he would drug them with thorizine, 399 00:28:07.319 --> 00:28:13.680 this very powerful sedative used on patients and mental hospitals, 400 00:28:14.079 --> 00:28:16.559 and keep them in what he called this special care 401 00:28:16.680 --> 00:28:19.960