Jonestown, Guyana was the scene of one of the most horrifying tragedies in American history. On November 18th, 1978, cult-leader Jim Jones convinced over 900 people to commit suicide claiming that '' it's not suicide it's a revolutionary act ''.
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But what's the story behind this? It starts in the 1950s when Jones established the People's Cult, a christian cult, where he preached against many things including racism, which attracted many African-Americans and young people who wanted to make a change. In 1971, after moving to San Fransisco, his church was accused of fraud and abuse of members and children (many claims surfaced that the members where forced to stay, some lost custody of their kids etc.) Paranoid Jones moved his temple to Jonestown, where he intended to build a socialist utopian society with his followers.
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A day before the massacre, a congressman named Ryan was sent to investigate the settlement with journalists and observers. Everything seemed fine, but when they were about to leave, some residents asked them for passage out of Guyana. Jones became distressed and got one of his lieutenants to attack Ryan with a knife. He was able to escape unharmed, but as they were boarding their plane they were ambushed and killed.
Then, Jim Jones told everyone to gather in the main pavillion., where he told everyone to commit suicide. Although they were told it was a ''revolutionary act'', it was actually to cover up the truth about his cult.
The first victims were children. Parents and nurses used syringes to drop a mix of cyanide, sedatives and powdered apple juice into their throats as the kids screamed and cried in agony. When they were done, adults drank the mix. Jones also died, but not in the same way. He was shot.
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Around one-third of the victims were under 17 years old, and many bodies were never claimed. '' One of the myths of Jonestown was that it was a mass suicide, whereas, in fact it was a mass murder ''
There is also an audio recording of the moment when it happened available online. You can listen to Jones's speech, the screams of the kids and the silence after everyone passed away.
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A/N: cults have always impressed me but this one is such a sad one :(
✨𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗲𝘀:
Here are some extra links if you want to do further research or know the story better :
