Q379 Summary

Summary prepared by Fielding M. McGehee III. If you use this material, please credit The Jonestown Institute. Thank you.

To read the Tape Transcript, click here. Listen to MP3 (Pt. 1, Pt. 2).
To return to the Tape Index, click here.

FBI Catalogue           Jones Speaking

FBI preliminary tape identification note: Labeled in part “News 10/8/78”

Date cues on tape:     Contents of tape consistent with label

People named:

Bible verses cited: None

Summary:

This tape comprises two segments, Jim Jones reading the news of the day for October 8, 1978, and a partial Peoples Rally, almost certainly later the same day.

The Peoples Rally consists primarily of a discipline session, in which several young boys are called to the floor to explain their stealing of underwear and socks from each other, and numerous adults are cited for infractions such as not returning tools after a day’s work and for being “overweight, they gain weight, or they’re not losing enough weight.”

As the recording ends, Jim Jones speaks of the death of Jonestown resident Plickards Norris – who unfortunately called upon the name of Jesus as he was dying – and of the bravery of another dying resident, Lisa Layton, who would die of cancer before the end of the month.

The news tapes consist of two commentaries about the Soviet Union – one on its economic recovery since World War II and its certainty to pass the United States; and a second on the Soviet legal system and constitutional protections of its people – which bracket shorter news stories. The reading likely comes from a Soviet news source, and it is difficult to tell which of the politically-charged adjectives come from the text and which come from Jim Jones. The United States is uniformly the seat of monopoly capitalism and imperialism, its African allies are invariably racist and the Israeli state is consistently aggressive. The USSR, on the other hand, is the avant garde of liberation in the world – a phrase Jones uses many times in these newscasts – and its allies are united in the “struggle for peace and international security.”

The reading includes a single mention of the likelihood of nuclear war, a reference inserted by Jones himself.

Other shorter news items include:

• The Soviet Union celebrates Constitution Day;
• Soviet leaders meets with the governments of Angola, Syria and Vietnam;
• The UN urges an end to hostilities in Lebanon;
• The UN condemns the issuance of a visa to Rhodesia’s Ian smith to visit the US;
• The government of Nicaragua continues to bomb civilian populations;

The reads concludes with Jones’ familiar calls to work hard and to save other members of the Temple who are still in the States.

FBI Summary:

Date of transcription: 6/18/79

In connection with the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s investigation into the assassination of U.S. Congressman LEO J. RYAN at Port Kaituma, Guyana, South America, on November 18, 1978, a tape recording was obtained. This tape recording was located in Jonestown, Guyana, South America, and was turned over to U.S. Officials in Guyana and subsequently transported to the United States.

On June 4, 1979, Special Agent (name deleted) reviewed the tape numbered 1B93-110. This tape was found to contain the following:

Reverend JIM JONES presents news of the world and current events. Jonestown group meeting and “problems” discussion.

Differences with FBI Summary:

The summary is accurate and meets the FBI’s purposes.

Tape originally posted February 2021.