This document lists the the people who reportedly made up the Jonestown security force. This research document is original to this site. Please credit this website for any use of this material.
There are 67 names on this list. The information for this list comes from statements which surviving Temple members gave to the FBI in November and December 1978, either before the members left Guyana or immediately upon their return to the United States. The names of the people giving the statements were blacked out.
Everyone was asked to give a general statement, but agents also had a specific list of questions – Who was on the Planning Commission? Who was on security? What do you know about the fate of these 30-40 individuals? – which they asked everyone.
This list includes the 43 people who were named as being on the Jonestown security force. In addition, at least one member volunteered the information/opinion that everyone on the Jonestown archery team should be considered part of the security force. Others spoke of people who “practiced with weapons,” even if they didn’t name them as being members of security. One individual reported the existence of a “Explosives Committee,” although this is the only mention we have come across in our our research. This list also includes everyone who was named as one of the shooters at the Port Kaituma airstrip. We have noted the 21 people who were named on only one of these secondary security designations.
Finally, there were several rumors that everyone on the Jonestown basketball team doubled as security. While all but three basketball players have been independently identifed as security, any attempt to equate the two runs into many problems, not the least of which is that the basketball team was considered by other Jonestown residents to be the hotbed of insurgents who most resisted Jim Jones’ edicts. Nevertheless, we have noted the members of the basketball team here as well.
Due to the sometimes hearsay nature of the information upon which this research is based, there may be errors. Please contact Fielding McGehee with any corrections you may have. Thank you.
Jonestown Security. (pdf)