Jonestown Revisited: Jackie Speier, a 40-Year-Old Audio, Heroism and Difficult Memories

rollcall ^ | November 118 2018

[SMGFan]

Long-lost audio tape shows Rep. Ryan planned to rescue willing residents

(Editor’s Note: Sunday marks the 40th anniversary of a still-shocking mass-killing that left more than 900 people dead in “Jonestown,” a remote settlement in Guyana founded by cult leader Jim Jones. Most were poisoned with a cyanide-laced drink. Leo J. Ryan, a Democratic lawmaker from San Francisco, had traveled to Jonestown to investigate reports of people being held against their will in Jonestown. Ryan and four others were fatally shot at a nearby airstrip. Rep Jackie Speier, D-Calif., then a Ryan staffer, was among several more who were shot repeatedly and left for dead at the airstrip. The mass killing began soon afterwards.)

The 40-year-old audiotape sounded tinny and indistinct to Rep. Jackie Speier. In her Capitol Hill office, the California Democrat leaned forward in her chair to listen to the voices from the recording on the laptop computer.

On the tape were her former boss, Rep. Leo J. Ryan, her 28-year-old self and Debbie Layton Blakey, an escapee from the settlement in Guyana called Jonestown. Speier had not heard the recording since shortly after it was made on September 1, 1978. After the National Archives made the tape available a few years ago, Speier said she was eager to be one of the first to listen to it.

[ExNewsExSpook]

That was before my time. I have no idea if Ryan cleared his visit with the State Department. If I had to guess—and it’s only speculation—I’d say he didn’t. Ryan figured he knew Jim Jones and could “reason” with him. Took journalists along to document his expected “trimuph” in rescuing those who wanted to leave the People’s Temple. Ryan miscalculated all the way around; paid for his mistake with his life and took a lot of people with him, too.

Of course, the real story about Jim Jones (other than the mass suicide in Guyana) was his ties to the liberal establishment in San Francisco—links that were all-but-obliterated in the coverage that followed the tragedy. Took decades for reporters to go back and reconnect the dots, after most of those involved were dead or no longer running for office.

BTW, you’ll note that Congresswoman Spier’s “recollections” of the event made no mention of the ties between Ryan and Jones. As one of his top aides, she almost certainly knew of their connection. But even now, 40 years later, the media still covers for the liberal SF establishment that once counted Jim Jones as one of their own.