{"id":28123,"date":"2013-08-10T21:28:09","date_gmt":"2013-08-10T21:28:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/alternativejonestown.com\/?page_id=28123"},"modified":"2021-02-19T17:55:07","modified_gmt":"2021-02-20T01:55:07","slug":"313-2","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/?page_id=28123","title":{"rendered":"Q313 Summary"},"content":{"rendered":"

Summary prepared by Michael Bellefountaine. If you use this material, please credit The Jonestown Institute. Thank you.<\/strong><\/i><\/p>\n

To read the Tape Transcript, click here<\/a>. To listen to MP3, click here<\/a>.
\nTo return to the Tape Index, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

FBI Catalogue: <\/b>Jones Speaking<\/p>\n

FBI preliminary tape identification note: <\/strong>Labeled in part “Peoples Rally 11\/10\/78”<\/p>\n

Date cues on tape: <\/b>10 November 1978 (notation on tape box confirmed in context)<\/p>\n

People named:<\/b><\/p>\n

Public figures\/National and international names:<\/i>
\nJoe Hill, labor union organizer
\nPaul Robeson, black singer
\nSalvador Allende, deposed president of Chile
\nGen. Augusto Pinochet, president of Chile
\nU.S. Senator Edward Brooke
\nU.S. Rep. Charles Diggs
\nCalifornia Lieutenant Governor Merv Dymally
\nDon Harris, reporter for NBC
\nTim Reiterman, reporter for the San Francisco Examiner
\nLeo Ryan, congressman assassinated at Port Kaituma<\/p>\n

Temple adversaries; members of Concerned Relatives:<\/i>
\nMike Cartmell
\nSuzanne Jones Cartmell
\nJim Cobb
\nWalter Jones
\nAnthony Katsaris
\nSteven Katsaris
\nDiane Mertle
\nElmer “Mert” Mertle
\nHoward & Beverly Oliver
\nWayne Pietila
\nGrace Stoen
\nTim Stoen
\nBonnie Malmin Thielmann [listed as Bonnie Burnham]
\nMickey Touchette<\/p>\n

Jonestown residents:<\/i>
\nGene Chaikin
\nMarceline Jones (speaks)<\/b>
\nTony Linton
\nWillie Sneed (speaks)<\/b><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

Bible verses cited: <\/b>None<\/p>\n

Summary:<\/b><\/p>\n

(Note: <\/strong>This tape was transcribed and summarized by Michael Bellefountaine. The editors gratefully acknowledge his invaluable assistance.)<\/p>\n

(Note: <\/strong>This tape was one of the 53 tapes initially withheld from public disclosure.)<\/em><\/p>\n

Recorded a week before the arrival of Rep. Leo Ryan\u2019s party in Guyana in November 1978, this tape is of a community in crisis. The people of Jonestown know the delegation is coming, and that it will be filled with the relatives whom Jim Jones has been lambasting for months, with members of the press, and with representatives of the U.S. government. No one knows how long their enemies will be in Guyana, whether they will be able to get into Jonestown, or what the community would do if the unwelcome guests appear.<\/p>\n

Jim Jones is alternately concerned, perplexed, angry, and defiant. The snatches of conversation with the residents of Jonestown, including Marceline Jones \u2013 Jones spontaneously edited the tape with the on\/off switch on his microphone, and many responses are cut off after a few words \u2013 reveal a weariness and apprehension in reaction to their perceptions of threat, both external and internal.<\/p>\n

Made during a community meeting, the tape opens with Jones issuing directives about the treatment of animals, attendance in classes, and medical passes for special treatment at mealtimes, but he has reserved most of his fire to direct at the people of Jonestown who are homesick for their kin back in the United States. Since the tape begins (and ends) with the meeting in progress, is it unclear if the community knows from the beginning that the tone of Jones\u2019 orders has been colored by news of the congressman\u2019s anticipated arrival in Guyana. Soon after the tape begins, though, Jones raises the issue.<\/p>\n

He begins by listing everyone who will be in the party coming from the U.S. He talks about the Concerned Relatives \u2013 both individually and as an organization, even if he doesn\u2019t refer to it by name \u2013 who provided the impetus for Ryan\u2019s investigation. He tells them about the lies being told against Peoples Temple: \u201cthey say we are communist, we are degenerate, we are against Christ \u2026 They say I initiate people here, every male I have to screw and every female I screw, and that we cut up people, kill them, bury them, eat them\u2026 [b]abies have been burned alive\u2026 anything that fits their purpose.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even if he doesn\u2019t understand the hate behind the lies, Jones says, he knows why they tell them. \u201cThey make up stories about what we are supposed to do, so that they can justify what they will do. We\u2019re supposed to cut up babies, so when they come in here, they\u2019ll cut up babies.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is unclear if Jones believes that the people coming to Guyana know of the threats that the Temple has made to destroy itself. He makes a few references to the \u201cknowledge\u201d that the relatives have of what the community would do in response, but the language is ambiguous and the rhetoric is heated by the crisis of the moment.<\/p>\n

But how does Jones know what the Concerned Relatives are saying? He has \u201cinfiltration,\u201d he says, an imposter from the Temple who has worked his way into the organization\u2019s hierarchy and is reporting back to Jonestown.<\/p>\n

Jones also has intelligence in\u00a0Georgetown, members of the\u00a0Temple who will point out the relatives to Guyanese immigration officials as the plane from the\u00a0U.S.\u00a0disembarks. They will try to limit the visitors\u2019 visas to one day \u2013 which would preclude a trip to Jonestown\u00a0\u2013\u00a0 but\u00a0Jones doesn\u2019t know if they\u2019ll be successful.<\/span><\/p>\n

Against this backdrop, he blasts dissenters within the Jonestown community. The outsiders don\u2019t have what they need to destroy Jonestown, but some people have the \u201caudacity\u201d to say they miss their relatives in the States.<\/span><\/p>\n

If any Jonestown residents did return to the\u00a0United States, Jones asks, what do they think they would find? He reverts to a familiar theme<\/a> that blacks will soon be rounded up and put in concentration camps, but he has new information to back up the claim: a number of black elected officials, including their highest-placed friend, California Lt. Gov. Mervyn Dymally, were just defeated at the polls in the off-year elections. If such powerful men go down, \u201cWhat the hell do you think they\u2019re going to do with you? They\u2019re going to\u00a0grill<\/i>\u00a0you,\u00a0twist<\/i>\u00a0your arm, make a\u00a0stoolie<\/i>\u00a0out of you, and then when they finish with you,\u00a0kill<\/i>\u00a0you.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Jones describes the people who want to return to the\u00a0U.S.\u00a0as \u201cfools,\u201d \u201cmorons,\u201d or \u2013 worst of all, judging from his tone of voice \u2013 \u201cgoddamn dreamers.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

But the underlying\u00a0issue is why people even think about their relatives and want\u00a0to see them. Their family members \u2013 \u201c177 of them, [relatives of] practically every one of you here\u201d \u2013 are the ones making the trouble, so the community should just \u201cforget them all.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The relatives include one\u00a0of his own. He speaks of a daughter whom he spent thousands of dollars on over the years to save her life \u2013 an assertion he returns to throughout the tape \u2013 and \u201cnow she talks about killing me, her mother, and all of her brothers.\u201d He says he doesn\u2019t know her anymore, \u201cnor would I hesitate one moment if she crosses this hill with a gun, to blow her brains apart like a piece of cabbage.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

But his daughter would not be the only one to die. He says that as many as 40 people may be coming, but \u201cif they enter this property illegally, they will not leave it alive.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

There are also traitors within the community, and Jones calls one out. One unnamed black man \u2013 someone in a supervisory role who has worked with young people \u2013 has been on the floor before. This time, he has been accused of telling people about the paths out of Jonestown and about the location of the passports. \u201c[I]f I place my judgment on you, man,\u201d Jones says angrily, \u201cyou won\u2019t be walking \u2026 you\u2019ll be in a\u00a0hospital<\/i>\u00a0bed.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

His anger continues to build through the balance of the 20 minutes that the tape runs. He makes another reference to having the ability to put someone in a hospital bed,\u00a0then\u00a0reminds the gathering of his abilities to cure cancer and raise the dead. \u201cWhy do you keep playing with that which men call God and we call socialism incarnate? I\u2019m a liberator. I\u2019m a savior\u2026 there is no space that I am not present. Now I fill all space, occupy all time\u2026 I have no beginning and I have no ending\u2026 I am that which they call God.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Jones has noted a few moments earlier that he has lost 21 pounds in two weeks \u201cbecause of you assholes,\u201d but as he gives voice to his anger and frustration, the weight loss has changed. People may think he\u2019s sick, he says, and that illness or fatigue may cause him to lose his power. \u201cYou people there\u2019re out here sitting, worried I\u2019m going to die, I\u2019m very much alive,\u201d he says. \u201cI have no sickness in me. I am as able as I ever was, as young as I ever was, and as powerful, and I shall always remain the same.\u201d And the weight loss was voluntary: \u201cI wouldna lost the 21 pounds, if I hadn\u2019t wanted to. So just settle your minds. You\u2019re not killing me.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

As the tape nears the end, Jones is fully enraged, and the rage is directed at those who have followed him for years. \u201cI\u2019ll wipe out some of you just like that,\u201d he says in a deliberate tone. \u201cI will see\u00a0you<\/i>\u00a0in the grave.\u00a0Many of you.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

FBI Summary:<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Date of transcription: 8\/28\/79<\/span><\/p>\n

In connection with the Federal Bureau of Investigation\u2019s (FBI) investigation into the assassination of U.S. Congressman LEO J. RYAN at Port Kaituma,\u00a0Guyana,\u00a0South America, on November 18, 1978, a tape recording was obtained. This tape recording was located inJonestown,\u00a0Guyana, South America, and was turned over to U.S. Officials in\u00a0Guyana\u00a0and subsequently transported to the\u00a0United States.<\/span><\/p>\n

On August 20, 1979, Special Agent (name deleted) reviewed the tape numbered 1B93-55. This tape was found to contain the following:<\/span><\/p>\n

JIM JONES sermon on inhumanity to animals (horses).<\/span><\/p>\n

JIM JONES states, \u201cI have a daughter on board a plane arriving on Tuesday night, amongst GRACE (STOEN) who\u2019s living with WALTER JONES, TIM STOEN, STEVEN KATSARIS, ANTHONY KATSARIS, JIM COBB, MICKEY TOUCHETTE, WAYNE PIETLA, the two sinister OLIVERS, BONNIE BURNHAM (phonetic), MIKE CARTMEL, SUSAN CARTMEL, DIANA MERTLE, MIKE and SUSAN don\u2019t live together, SUSAN is nothing more than a common whore, MERT – MERTLE, TIM REITERMAN, who is a rightist fascist with the Examiner, DON HARRIS, another rightist with NBC, someone of the same ilk with the Chronicle, LEO RYAN\u2026some coming in secretly \u2026 some at night \u2026 They will kill \u2026 destroy \u2026 How do I know? Because I have a very reliable person, inside, infiltrated, doing heavy work \u2026 This criminal RYAN\u2026 If they enter this property illegally, they will not leave it alive\u2026\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a liberator, I\u2019m a savior. And I\u2019m also powerful \u2026 I am here, there, there is no space that I am not present. That I fill all space, occupy all time. You\u2019ve forgotten who I am \u2026 I have no beginning and I have no ending \u2026 I am that which they call God.\u201d (crowd\u00a0applauds and agrees)<\/span><\/p>\n

Differences with FBI Summary:<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

This summary is accurate and meets the FBI\u2019s purposes.<\/span><\/p>\n

Tape originally posted April 2004<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Summary prepared by Michael Bellefountaine. If you use this material, please credit The Jonestown Institute. Thank you. To read the Tape Transcript, click here. To listen to MP3, click here. To return to the Tape Index, click here. FBI Catalogue: Jones Speaking FBI preliminary tape identification note: Labeled in part “Peoples Rally 11\/10\/78” Date cues […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"parent":27996,"menu_order":159,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-28123","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/28123","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=28123"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/28123\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":108843,"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/28123\/revisions\/108843"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/27996"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=28123"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}