Comments by "" (@DavidJ222) on "Jake Tapper issues warning to GOP about Capitol riot" video.
-
55
-
At the time of his deth, Jim Jones held such power over his followers that he was able to direct more than 900 of them to participate in a ma55 mur.der-sui.cide.
Jones was the leader of the Peoples Temple, a ministry of his own devising that convinced hundreds of Americans to move to his compound, known as Jonestown, in Guyana.
"I thought he could heal because I saw healings and I thought they were real," said former Peoples Temple member Leslie Wagner-Wilson. "He was a master of manipulation, but you saw him with this dark hair, the sunglasses, and the way that he spoke -- he was a great orator -- and it moved you, it inspired you because he was so passionate. And so I was just enthralled."
As time went on, former members said Jones became more extreme.
"His behavior became totally irrational," said Williams, one of the former members. "You begin to just go with the flow out of fear. Fear of the fact that if you left the church, what you might experience, what danger might be brought to you."
In 1974, Jones leased more than 3,800 acres of isolated land in the jungle from the Guyanese government. By 1978, nearly 1,000 followers had moved to the Guyana compound, former members said, and food started to run out. Having been forced to give up their passports and money upon arrival, some former members said they were cut off from the outside world.
"Everyone was forbidden from reading anything because Jones said they were liars," said former member Deborah Layton. "He called it FAKE NEWS…. Jones coined fake news. Anything that was written about him he said was fake. It was all to ruin his name and his cause, and what he stood for."
5