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#REDIRECT [[Jonestown#Conspiracy theories]] |
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{{Multiple issues| |
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{{more footnotes|date=June 2017}} |
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{{Original research|date=July 2010}} |
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[[File:Jonestown Houses.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Houses in Jonestown.]] |
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The '''Jonestown conspiracy theories''' are [[conspiracy theory|conspiracy theories]] centering on the [[Jonestown|Peoples Temple Agricultural Project]] and the Jonestown massacre. Many proponents of such conspiracy theories contend that outside forces were involved in what occurred at the commune, including the massacre. These theories often include the assertion that the events in Jonestown represented CIA efforts in mind control or similar modes of social experimentation, often believed by proponents of such theories to be a covert example of [[Project MKUltra]] in practice.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/?page_id=16582 |title=Reconstructing Reality: Conspiracy Theories About Jonestown |website=Jonestown.sdsu.edu |date= |accessdate=2016-03-12}}</ref> |
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==CIA== |
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The day Leo Ryan was killed, his top aide [[Joe Holsinger]], who later became head of the DNC, recieved a White House call detailingthe exact number of people killed based on "a CIA report from the scene."<ref>https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP90-00965R000100170035-8.pdf</ref> |
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==Discrepancies during investigation== |
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Headlines in the ''[[New York Post]]'',<ref>New York Post, Nov 28, 1978: "Cult Dies in South American Jungle: 400 Die in Mass Suicide, 700 Flee into Jungle."</ref> the ''[[New York Times]]'',<ref>New York Times, Nov 21, 1978; Nov 22, 1978; Nov 23, 1978</ref> and the ''[[San Francisco Examiner]]''<ref>San Francisco Examiner, Nov 22, 1978</ref> originally cited reports from the Guyanese army that 408 people had killed themselves while more than 500 others managed to flee into the surrounding jungle. |
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The U.S. military arrived several days later and the body count quickly rose; first it was 700, then 780, to a final tally given seven days after the Guyanese report of 909 dead, 4 followers dead at the Temple offices in the capital of Georgetown, and 5 members of Representative Leo Ryan's delegation, including the Congressman himself, murdered at the Port Kaituma airstrip. Only 167 Jonestown inhabitants were reported to have survived. |
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In explaining the discrepancies, one U.S. official said the Guyanese "couldn't count"<ref>New York Times, November 25, 1978</ref> while another said that the 400 corpses initially found had just been stacked in such a way that they hid more than 500 more. The dead littered the compound, with piles of bodies decomposing atop one another near the pavilion, and corpses in other buildings or far-flung positions were not readily apparent. |
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While the total number of settlers living in Jonestown at the time of the massacre has never been properly verified, based on the population estimates there could be anywhere between 20 and 120 followers not accounted for. Conspiracy theorists and at least one Congressional aide claimed these people formed the so-called "Red Brigade", which was armed guards (or perhaps brainwashed assassins) who carried out the attack at the airport as well as providing more typical duties maintaining security along the roads and around the compound. |
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According to the ''New York Times'',<ref>New York Times, December 14, 1978</ref> the first trained medical official on the scene was the Guyanese [[coroner]] Dr. Leslie C. Mootoo. He and his assistants examined over 100 of the bodies during a 32-hour period and found that the adults had all been injected with [[cyanide]] in places which they could not have reached without assistance, such as between the shoulder blades, and that many of them had also been shot. (Charles Huff, one of the first U.S. soldiers on the scene, also reported having seen "many gunshot victims", as well as other victims who had been shot with a [[crossbow]], all of whom appeared to have been attempting to flee.) Mootoo also felt that the children were incapable of consenting to suicide. Based on his preliminary findings, Mootoo speculated that the majority of those who died in Jonestown may have been [[murder]]ed. |
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Despite Guyana law requiring an [[autopsy]] for any unnatural death, the Americans insisted that the cause of death was readily apparent and additional inquiry was not necessary.{{Citation needed|date=November 2010}} Relatives and officials back in the [[United States]] complained about being kept from the remains, and according to the ''New York Times'',<ref>New York Times, December 12, 1978</ref> Dr. Sturmer, then President of the [[National Association of Medical Examiners]], sent an [[open letter]] to the U.S. Army complaining about the handling of remains and the illegal cremations of most of the Jonestown victims. For a number of reasons, some legal and some merely logistical, the bodies were not flown out of the remote jungle location of Jonestown for up to a week before being flown to [[New Jersey]], which allowed significant decomposition to occur. Ultimately seven autopsies were conducted but the medical examiners were not informed of Dr. Mootoo's preliminary findings and the corpses were far too decayed for injection sites or other wounds to remain identifiable during the procedures.<ref>New York Times November 26, 1978</ref> |
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==Richard Dwyer== |
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Despite the growing allegations of misconduct against the Peoples Temple in the U.S., the move to Jonestown was given the full support of the American Embassy in Guyana. Some{{who|date=November 2010}} claim their cooperation was facilitated by Larry Layton's brother-in-law, as well as people including [[Walter Mondale]], [[Rosalynn Carter]], and [[George Moscone]]. Others{{who|date=November 2010}} point out that the Georgetown CIA station was in office space within the U.S. Embassy building itself, and at least three diplomatic officials there were allegedly CIA assets.{{Citation needed|date=November 2010}} |
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Richard Dwyer, whose name was listed in ''[[Who's Who in the CIA]],'' was [[State Department|Deputy Chief of Mission]] of the U.S. Embassy to Guyana at the time. There exists a strong likelihood{{Citation needed|date=November 2010}} that Ryan would not have been at the airstrip during the attack without direct intervention by Dwyer. Ryan had intended to remain at the Jonestown compound to continue interviewing families while those wishing to return to the United States were taken to the airstrip, but as the dump truck was leaving Ryan was attacked by Peoples Temple follower and alleged Red Brigade member [[Don Sly]] (also known as Ujara). Ujara wielded only a knife and the attack was quickly ended. Ryan was cut in the attack<ref>{{Citation|url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/jonestown/|title=Jonestown:The Life and Death of the People's Temple|accessdate=2010-07-01}}</ref> and decided to board the dump truck headed to the airstrip. Already on the dump truck was [[Larry Layton]], who, despite warnings by the defectors that Layton was a strong supporter of [[Jim Jones]]{{Citation needed|date=March 2010}}, had been allowed to join the group at the last minute. Layton participated in the attacks on the Ryan delegation, ultimately serving nearly twenty years in prison after being disarmed and failing to kill his targets on the [[Cessna]], becoming the only Peoples Temple follower to face criminal charges for these events. |
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On September 27, 1980, a column by investigative reporter [[Jack Anderson (columnist)|Jack Anderson]] was published under the title "[[CIA]] Involved In Jonestown Massacre."<ref>Anderson, Jack, "CIA Involved In Jonestown Massacre, September 27, 1980</ref> According to Anderson, Dwyer and Jones had ties to the CIA, with Dwyer's ties dating to at least 1959; when quizzed directly about this alleged CIA involvement, Dwyer responded "no comment." At one point on the sound-recording made during the mass suicide, Jones' own voice commands, "Take Dwyer on down to the east house" and a short time later, Jones says "Get Dwyer out of here before something happens to him."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/?page_id=29081 |title=Jonestown Audiotape Primary Project : Transcripts, Tape Number : Q 042, the so-called "Death Tape" |accessdate=2007-03-08}}</ref> |
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However, rather than being in Jonestown, numerous witnesses, including reporters for the Washington Post and San Francisco Chronicle, saw Dwyer miles away at the [[Port Kaituma]] airstrip.<ref name="Tim Reiterman 1982 page 527">Tim Reiterman (1982) "Raven: The Untold Story of The Rev. Jim Jones and His People" {{ISBN|0-525-24136-1}} page 527</ref> Dwyer arrived there with some local constables just before the ambush by the Jonestown "Red Brigade" security squad.<ref name="Tim Reiterman 1982 page 527"/> Dwyer was also shot in the buttocks during the Red Brigade's ambush at that location.<ref>Tim Reiterman (1982) "Raven: The Untold Story of The Rev. Jim Jones and His People" {{ISBN|0-525-24136-1}} page 534</ref> Dwyer stayed at the airstrip with the survivors during the night.<ref>Tim Reiterman (1982) "Raven: The Untold Story of The Rev. Jim Jones and His People" {{ISBN|0-525-24136-1}} page 537</ref> Although no one can be certain, Jones' slurred speech and the apparent confusion evidenced in his followers on the tape at his reference to Dwyer may indicate that Jones mistook someone else (perhaps Charles Garry) for Dwyer.{{Citation needed|date=November 2010}} |
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==Views from the Soviet Union== |
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''The Jonestown Carnage: A CIA Crime (1978)'' (Russian: ''Гибель Джонстауна - преступление ЦРУ'')<ref>{{cite web|url=http://bey.livejournal.com/36599.html |title=Джонстаун-1: bey |website=Bey.livejournal.com |accessdate=2016-03-12 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160614145413/http://bey.livejournal.com/36599.html |archivedate=2016-06-14 }}</ref> by S.F. Alinin, B.G. Antonov and A.N. Itskov was published in 1987 in the Soviet Union, relying upon both unfounded allegations and some relatively indisputable facts. The book cites many characteristics of the Peoples Temple which may have made it unpopular with the U.S. Government. For example, citing the numerous tapes and writings of the Temple, the book notes that the Peoples Temple practiced [[Wikt:apostolic|apostolic]] [[socialism]], preached [[atheism]], and opposed what it termed to be [[capitalism|capitalist]] [[imperialism]] by the U.S. Government. The book also cites the numerous meetings that representatives of the Peoples' Temple had with Soviet embassy officials to negotiate a potential exodus to the [[Soviet Union]]. The book also references the October 2, 1978 visit to Jonestown by Soviet Embassy representative Feodor Timofeyev, who praised the commune for being a socialist haven, wagging its collective finger in the face of the U.S. government.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/?page_id=27428 |title=Q352 Transcript |website=Jonestown.sdsu.edu |date=2014-04-07 |accessdate=2016-03-12}}</ref> |
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In addition to documented events, the book also includes contentious allegations not revealed in the Jonestown tapes or other available evidence. One such item describes a statement by Timofeyev of a purported meeting on November 18, 1978, with Deborah Touchette, whom Timofeyev claimed passed him a briefcase with cash and Peoples Temple documents inside. Another report in the book concerned a call from Sharon Amos, staying at the Peoples Temple office in Georgetown with her three children on the day of the massacre, where Amos allegedly described a radio message from out of Jonestown about military helicopters and armed men approaching the compound. Amos and her three children died upon Jones' order. |
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Based upon these and other allegations, the author contends that the group members were assassinated by CIA agents and mercenaries to prevent further political emigration from the U.S. as well as suppress opposition to the U.S. regime. |
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==References== |
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{{Reflist}} |
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==Bibliography== |
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*{{Cite book |author1=Renardo Barden |title=Cults (Troubled Society series) |publisher=Rourke Pub Group |location= |year= 1990|isbn=0-86593-070-8 |oclc= |doi= |url=https://archive.org/details/cults00bard }} |
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*{{Cite book |author=Sean Dolan |title=Everything you need to know about cults |publisher=Rosen Pub. Group |location=New York |year=2000 |isbn=0-8239-3230-3 |oclc= |doi= |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/everythingyounee0000dola }} |
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*{{Cite book |author1=Jack Sargeant |title=Death Cults: Murder, Mayhem and Mind Control (True Crime Series) |publisher=Virgin Publishing |location= |year=2002 |isbn=0-7535-0644-0 |oclc= |doi=}} |
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*''Jonestown Carnage: A CIA Crime'' - S.F. Alinin, B.G.Antonov, A.N.Itsko (Gives USSR version of the Jonestown massacre, argues that it was a crime committed by CIA.) |
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*{{Cite book |author=Rebecca Moore |title=A sympathetic history of Jonestown: the Moore family involvement in Peoples Temple |publisher=E. Mellen Press |location=Lewiston |year=1985 |isbn=0-88946-860-5 |oclc= |doi=}} |
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*{{Cite book |author=Charles A. Krause; with exclusive material by Laurence M. Stern, Richard Harwood and the staff of The Washington Post; with 16 pages of on-the-scene photos. and commentary by Frank Johnston |title=Guyana massacre: the eyewitness account |publisher=Berkley Pub. Corp |location=[New York] |year=1978 |isbn=0-425-04234-0 |oclc= |doi= |url=https://archive.org/details/guyanamassacreey00krau }} |
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*{{Cite book |author=Shiva Naipaul |title=Journey to nowhere: a New World tragedy |publisher=Penguin |location=Harmondsworth [Eng.] |year=1982 |isbn=0-14-006189-4 |oclc= |doi= |url=https://archive.org/details/journeytonowhere00naip }} (published in the UK as ''Black and White'') Shiva Naipaul |
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*{{Cite book |author1=Phil Kerns |title=People's Temple, People's Tomb |publisher=Logos Associates |location= |year=1978 |isbn=0-88270-363-3 |oclc= |doi=}} |
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*''Raven: The Untold Story of The Rev. Jim Jones and His People'' by Tim Reiterman with John Jacobs |
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*{{Cite book |author1=Marshall Kilduff |author2=Ron Javers |title=The suicide cult: the inside story of the Peoples Temple sect and the massacre in Guyana |publisher=Bantam Books |location=New York |year=1978 |isbn=0-553-12920-1 |oclc= |doi= |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/suicidecultinsid0000kild }} |
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*''Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple'' a film by Stanley Nelson |
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*''Snake Dance: Unravelling the Mysteries of Jonestown'' by Laurie Efrein Kahalas, Trafford Publ 1998. {{ISBN|978-1-55212-207-5}}. Controversial 'insider' material. |
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*{{Cite book |author1=Michael Meiers |title=Was Jonestown a CIA Medical Experiment?: A Review of the Evidence |publisher=Edwin Mellen Pr |location= |year=1989 |isbn=978-0889460133 |oclc= |doi=}} |
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==External links== |
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{{External links|date=May 2015}} |
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{{Wikisource|Congressman Tom Lantos' Remarks on the 25th Anniversary of the Tragedy at Jonestown and the Death of Congressman Leo Ryan}} |
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*[https://web.archive.org/web/20100213202507/http://www.fonebone.net/Jonestown/ ''Was Jonestown a CIA Medical Experiment?: A Review of the Evidence''] by Michael Meiers |
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*[https://www.npr.org/features/feature.php?wfId=1509317 ''Father Cares: The Last of Jonestown''] - Airing in 1981, this 90 minute audio documentary was based on hundreds of hours of audio tape acquired under the Freedom of Information Act. Winner of the Dupont Columbia Award, the National Headliner Award and the Prix Italia. |
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*[http://www.jonestownlegacy.com/ 'Jonestown Legacy'] - Jonestown Legacy is a site run by David Wise, a former Pastor of the Los Angeles Branch of the Peoples Temple. David Wise turned against Jim Jones when Jones began to lose his mind and was hunted down by Jones and found twice. He spent twenty five years hiding out because Jones alleged to have taken a contract out on Wise's life. He is now writing a book with the same title. |
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*[http://brasscheck.com/jonestown/ 'Jonestown and Official San Francisco: The Untold Story'] - Documents the enormous support Jim Jones received from San Francisco politicians during both the period he built his "Church" in that city and afterwards when questions were raised about his project in Guyana. |
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*[https://archive.org/details/ptc1978-11-18.flac16 'Audio recording of mass suicide'] - An audio recording of the mass suicides in [[MP3]] and [[FLAC]] formats |
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*[http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/?page_id=690 List of who died at Jonestown] |
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*[http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/ ''Alternative considerations of Jonestown and Peoples Temple'', San Diego State University], documented attempts to gain U.S. government information, personal recollections, and essays. |
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*[https://web.archive.org/web/20141215052025/http://employees.oneonta.edu/downinll/mass_suicide.htm Transcript of Jim Jones' final speech] in which he announces that suicide is now the best solution. |
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*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070418123154/http://www.crimelibrary.com/serial4/jonestown/ Crime Library - The Jonestown Massacre] |
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*[http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/West/11/17/jonestown.anniversary/ CNN.com - Jonestown survivors recall fateful day] |
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*[https://web.archive.org/web/20110522042843/http://rapidshare.com/files/85787972/CIA_s_Massacre_at_Jonestown_-_Unknown_facts__Russian_.Jim.Jones.People_s_Church.Guyana.pdf.zip.html ''The Jonestown Carnage: A CIA Crime (Russian)''] - A book (in Russian) published in Soviet Union in 1987 containing witnesses of some people at Soviet embassy in Guyana and copies of documents unknown to western world. Soviet ambassador recalls a meeting on 18 November with Deborah Touchette (she passed a briefcase with cash, tape records and documents of People's Temple to him) and a call from Sharon Adams (she told about radio message from Jonestown about military helicopters and armed people approaching Jonestown on 18 November). |
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*[http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/West/11/17/cnna.kohl/index.html CNN.com - Jonestown survivor: 'Wrong from every point of view'] |
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*{{Cite news|title=1978: Mass suicide leaves 900 dead|date=1978-11-18|work=[[BBC News]] |
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|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/18/newsid_2540000/2540209.stm |
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|accessdate=2008-08-05}} |
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*[https://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http://www.geocities.com/oldsayville/jones.htm&date=2009-10-25+23:59:03 Jim Jones inspiration for his ideology and cult control techniques (no author)] |
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*[https://web.archive.org/web/20060208054504/http://www.ideajournal.com/02EnglishSpeech.html ''Masters and Slaves: The Tragedy of Jonestown'', by Fanita English] - Idea Journal article, addresses mind control (compares to Nazi Germany) |
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*[https://web.archive.org/web/20030628183911/http://www.freedomofmind.com/resourcecenter/groups/p/peoplestemple/jonestown_doc_1.htm Report to the committee on Foreign Affairs, May 1979] |
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*[http://www.ratical.org/ratville/JFK/JohnJudge/Jonestown.html The Black Hole of Guyana, by John Judge] article by researcher [[John Judge (conspiracy researcher)|John Judge]] |
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*[http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/?page_id=32713 Tapes Reveal Jones as Murderer, by Shelia Yohnk] |
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*[http://www.wordspy.com/words/drinktheKool-Aid.asp The Word Spy - drink the Kool-Aid] |
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*{{IMDb title|id=0080832|title=Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones}} |
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*{{IMDb title|id=0762111|title=Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple}} |
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Jonestown Conspiracy Theory}} |
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[[Category:Conspiracy theories in the United States]] |
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[[Category:Death conspiracy theories]] |
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