On this day in 1978, Jim Jones Leads His People’s Temple Cult to a Mass Murder-Suicide of over 900 People, Including Hundreds of Children and U.S. Rep. Leo Ryan.
“Alert! Alert! Alert! Everyone to the pavilion!” The Rev. Jim Jones was on the loudspeaker, summoning the members his People’s Temple to their last communion. Dutifully, they gathered round; some of them, without doubt, knew what was in store. “Everyone has to die,” said Jones. “If you love me as much as I love you, we must all die or be destroyed from the outside.” Mothers grasped their children to their breasts. Jones ordered his medical team to bring out “the potion,” a battered tub of strawberry Flavour-aide, laced with tranquilizers and cyanide. “Bring the babies first,” he commanded…
Newsweek December 4, 1978
That cover.
Brutal.
In college I spent a few weeks studying the People’s Temple showdown, including the quasi-hypnotic coercion in Jim Jones’ broadcast sermons leading up to the broadcast above. Not a fun thing to study—by the end I was a stressed-out wreck, encoding the power language in his sermons as they neared the end.
I have three books about Jones on my shelf to read and still can’t crack their covers. Such an emotional cop-out compared to the real deal.
