Rick Ross

Could you go into Jim Jones? Yeah, Jim Jones was at one time a very popular figure in San Francisco. He was considered one of the leading lights of social action in the Bay Area. He was very connected to the Democratic Party, the Democratic leaders, Governor Jerry Brown, Assemblyman Willie Brown. When Rosalind Carter visited San Francisco, she did a photo op with Jim Jones.

So Jim Jones was a kind of icon, and the People's Temple was a huge church with thousands and thousands of members, but no one really knew what was going on inside. And so ultimately what happened is that people that left

So Jim Jones was a kind of icon, and the People's Temple was a huge church with thousands and thousands of members, but no one really knew what was going on inside. And so ultimately what happened is that people that left

So Jim Jones was a kind of icon, and the People's Temple was a huge church with thousands and thousands of members, but no one really knew what was going on inside. And so ultimately what happened is that people that left

started to talk about the abuse they experienced, children being beaten brutally, people being exploited financially, and people came out of the church and they talked to the media. And so Jim Jones became more and more paranoid, again, a malignant narcissist, a psychopath, And then he decided, I'm leaving the Bay Area because the press is against me, the media is against me.

started to talk about the abuse they experienced, children being beaten brutally, people being exploited financially, and people came out of the church and they talked to the media. And so Jim Jones became more and more paranoid, again, a malignant narcissist, a psychopath, And then he decided, I'm leaving the Bay Area because the press is against me, the media is against me.

started to talk about the abuse they experienced, children being beaten brutally, people being exploited financially, and people came out of the church and they talked to the media. And so Jim Jones became more and more paranoid, again, a malignant narcissist, a psychopath, And then he decided, I'm leaving the Bay Area because the press is against me, the media is against me.

I used to be a celebrity, now they say bad things about me. I'm going to pack up and leave. And so he took about a thousand of his most devoted followers and he moved to English-speaking Guyana in South America in the middle of the jungle. They carved out a little community. that they called Jonestown. He controlled all communications, all social interaction. People were totally isolated.

I used to be a celebrity, now they say bad things about me. I'm going to pack up and leave. And so he took about a thousand of his most devoted followers and he moved to English-speaking Guyana in South America in the middle of the jungle. They carved out a little community. that they called Jonestown. He controlled all communications, all social interaction. People were totally isolated.

I used to be a celebrity, now they say bad things about me. I'm going to pack up and leave. And so he took about a thousand of his most devoted followers and he moved to English-speaking Guyana in South America in the middle of the jungle. They carved out a little community. that they called Jonestown. He controlled all communications, all social interaction. People were totally isolated.

Now comes families of those thousand people. And in particular, they approached Congressman Leo J. Ryan, and they said, please help us. We're very worried about our family members, our children, our grandchildren that are in Jonestown. Leo J. Ryan then gets Jim Jones to agree for him to come on a fact-finding trip with his staff to Jonestown. He comes there. At first, things go fairly well.

Now comes families of those thousand people. And in particular, they approached Congressman Leo J. Ryan, and they said, please help us. We're very worried about our family members, our children, our grandchildren that are in Jonestown. Leo J. Ryan then gets Jim Jones to agree for him to come on a fact-finding trip with his staff to Jonestown. He comes there. At first, things go fairly well.

Now comes families of those thousand people. And in particular, they approached Congressman Leo J. Ryan, and they said, please help us. We're very worried about our family members, our children, our grandchildren that are in Jonestown. Leo J. Ryan then gets Jim Jones to agree for him to come on a fact-finding trip with his staff to Jonestown. He comes there. At first, things go fairly well.

Then people are passing notes to Ryan and his staff. Take me with you. I want to get out of here. Bad things are happening in here that you don't know. And so Jones ultimately agrees to let some of these people go with Ryan. And then he recognizes that they're going to tell what's really going on in Jonestown. And so he dispatches his security force, and they murder everyone. Some people survive.

Then people are passing notes to Ryan and his staff. Take me with you. I want to get out of here. Bad things are happening in here that you don't know. And so Jones ultimately agrees to let some of these people go with Ryan. And then he recognizes that they're going to tell what's really going on in Jonestown. And so he dispatches his security force, and they murder everyone. Some people survive.

Then people are passing notes to Ryan and his staff. Take me with you. I want to get out of here. Bad things are happening in here that you don't know. And so Jones ultimately agrees to let some of these people go with Ryan. And then he recognizes that they're going to tell what's really going on in Jonestown. And so he dispatches his security force, and they murder everyone. Some people survive.

Jackie Speier, one of Leo J. Ryan's staff members who would later become a United States congressman from his very district, was shot five times and almost bled out. But she miraculously survived. Other people survived as well, but Leo J. Ryan was killed. And Jim Jones knew this is the end. They're going to come for me. And he was right.

Jackie Speier, one of Leo J. Ryan's staff members who would later become a United States congressman from his very district, was shot five times and almost bled out. But she miraculously survived. Other people survived as well, but Leo J. Ryan was killed. And Jim Jones knew this is the end. They're going to come for me. And he was right.

Jackie Speier, one of Leo J. Ryan's staff members who would later become a United States congressman from his very district, was shot five times and almost bled out. But she miraculously survived. Other people survived as well, but Leo J. Ryan was killed. And Jim Jones knew this is the end. They're going to come for me. And he was right.

The authorities were coming from Georgetown in Guyana for him. And so he mixed these tubs of punch and they were laced with cyanide. And he encouraged, insisted that all of his people take the cyanide. And so that's what, when the phrase came, you drank the Kool-Aid because people would say, well, it was Kool-Aid and the people in Jonestown drank the Kool-Aid and they died.