[Peoples Temple letterhead]
March 13, 1974
NOT FOR PUBLICATION OR BROADCAST
An attempt was made last weekend to blow up the bus in which our Pastor, Jim V. [W.] Jones of Peoples Temple Christian Church of the Disciples of Christ denomination, whose interracial human service ministry recently gave the $2,000 contribution to the Hearsts for Patricia, was aboard at the time with his wife. As newspaper and broadcast accounts stated, the bus was parked with ten others owned by the church outside of the building in San Francisco where Rev. Jones conducts services. The bomb was found by a church security guard underneath the fuel tank. The fuse had burned down to a fraction of an inch before it somehow went out which different ones at the scene said was a miracle. Rev. Jones himself removed the deadly explosive, and able members of the San Francisco Police Department’s Bomb Squad cane and took possession of the bomb.
Rev. Jones had denounced all violent groups just a few days before the bomb Incident, and a local ABC-TV newsman suggested that the attempted bombing may have been prompted by the church’s stand against violence and its work within the system to help eradicate violence.
Even though Rev. Jones has never sought publicity, he has been in the news often from acting according to conscience. Although newsmen who were involved with this story were most considerate, unfortunately we have actually been hurt by the news accounts of violence against our church. Last August, one of our churches was completely destroyed by professional arson; last December, Molotov cocktails were thrown at another of our churches; some of our animals have been mutilated and tortured; and an atmosphere of fear has occasionally been created that temporarily caused a small but significant drop-off in attendance, because many newcomers felt intimidated. Our lay view is not to report these types of incidents to the press, but law enforcement officials say nothing can be done about it because the press picks them up on police radios.
Naturally, we do not wish more publicity concerning this matter, though we are staunch supporters of a free press and have even given substantial sums of money to newsmen’s defense funds. So please be assured that we in no way wish to interfere with your good judgment concerning what is newsworthy and what should be reported as a matter of the public’s right to know. However, if
—–
as professionals in the news media, you feel something regarding this incident should be reported, our concern about the effects of the reports compels us to request that the following be considered: One correspondent at the scene kindly agreed not to report the incident if he could help it since he felt that publicity at this tine night encourage additional violent attempts against moderate groups such as ours, who only want to help people and sake them respectable, productive citizens.
We have been advised by authorities to consult with security and bomb experts. which we have done. Since then, one nan came into our service with a weapon, but it was detected and the situation was bandied discreetly with no problems. A most sophisticated security system has been installed which now includes a burglar alarm system, electronic detectors (which can spot dangerous weapons and bombs from a distance), sprinkler and fire alarm systems, etc. Some of our members are being trained for observations by experts in the field. As disagreeable as it is for us to do, people are being checked at the doors when entering our services. Though our security is trained to be very gracious, it is a hardship on the several thousands of members who attend each of our services and who are delayed when entering the meetings due to the new system. We feel it is extremely unfortunate to have to be so careful in a church and have only resorted to these intricate, innovative security methods because of the encouragement we have received from others to do so.
The person who planted the bomb under the bus our Pastor and his wife were in, must have scaled a building to get to the bus. After the bomb was discovered, Rev. Jones calmly cleared the area of all people before removing the explosive. Our security personnel now surround every one of our buses and buildings.
If anything is published or broadcast shout this incident, we feel it would be helpful for the above Information to be Included so that it might discourage psychotic types from trying to commit violent acts against us again.
Although some new people have not returned since our San Francisco temple was burned down, our members are some of the bravest people we have ever met. But yet we are so completely non-violent that not even one of our young people have been in any trouble with the law, even though some had serious crime and drug addiction problems before joining Peoples Temple. We have also successfully brought over 100 youth off hard-line drugs, and now many of them are living in our church sponsored college dormitories, studying in human service related fields such as medicine, law, teaching, and psychology.
Rev. Jones and Peoples Temple are concerned for the freedom of the Republic. Because of our abhorrence of terroristic tactics, which threaten to divide our society, we are grateful that many people have been reluctant to take the food distributed in the “People in Need” Program. We feel it is somehow unfitting for food to be accepted under these conditions. Rev. Jones has made public statements in our services that if anyone is in need of food, or if they know of anyone In need of food, to send them to us and we will gladly provide what they need. We believe that violent groups like these are endangering democracy, which we want to protect and sustain. We believe in this system and are working to support it.
Peoples Temple Board of Elders