Disclaimer: Article contains mentions of death and suicide. Readers are advised to exercise caution.
Jonestown Massacre – Stephan Jones
The Hulu documentary Cult Massacre: One Day at Jonestown chronicles the journey of cult leader Jim Jones. It also focuses on how he encouraged his followers to commit suicide after the murder of Congressman Leo Ryan by his gunmen. Reports indicate that 918 people died in the Jonestown massacre, while 90 survived. One of the survivors and Jones' son, Stephen Gandhi Jones, appeared in the documentary and spoke about his father and what happened at Jonestown on November 18, 1978.
According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Stephan Gandhi Jones was a high school student when he reached Jonestown. The newspaper reported that he went there to help his father build up the town. However, his life was miserable because Jim Jones would humiliate him if he ever tried to oppose him. In an interview with Penthouse Magazine, Gandhi Jones said, "Yeah. Every time I stood up in front of everybody, he made it a point to break me down, humiliate me." He also told the publication that people would be locked in an underground cell as punishment.
On November 18, 1978, when Congressman Leo Ryan arrived in Jonestown, Stephen Gandhi Jones and the basketball team went to Georgetown to play a tournament. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that Gandhi Jones refused to return to the city and survived the deadly massacre. He also noted that he coped with the incident by using drugs and playing sports. Gandhi Jones said, "I turned my anger on my father and his inner circle, instead of on myself."
