BB-29-pp
[Editor’s note: This document was transcribed from a radio newscast recorded by Peoples Temple. The transcript also appears here.]
KLIL UKIAH – Tom Holmes
Approx. 3/10/74
An attempt was made to blow up a bus yesterday in which Reverend Jim Jones of the Peoples Temple Christian Church of Redwood Valley was riding. The incident took place in San Francisco. Details now from Associate Pastor Michael Prokes.
MIKE: The bomb, discovered yesterday morning by a security guard, was planted strategically underneath the fuel tank of the bus Reverend Jim Jones was on with his wife Marceline and a staff worker. The bus was parked with eleven other of the Temple’s former Greyhound buses in the lot of the Benjamin Franklin Junior High School, where Peoples Temple was holding services this weekend. About eight police units in all came to the school, including officers, investigators, and a bomb squad. One detective, after discovering that the bomb fuse had burned down to a small fraction of an inch, and then went out, said to Reverend Jones, quote “I don’t know what kept the bomb from going off. It’s really a miracle.” Unquote. A number of individuals who had been involved with militant groups and activities of both the extreme left and the extreme right have been reformed by Peoples Temple and are now members of the church. This caused the same investigator to speculate that it may have been Reverend Jones’ opposition to militancy and the church’s nonviolent stance that prompted the attempted bombing.
Tom: Michael Prokes for the Peoples Temple Church.