Comments on: Jim Jones, Dan Mitrione and the Peoples Temple: Part 3

By: jimhougan

jimhougan — Sun, 04 Nov 2018 13:34:48 +0000

Easiest way to reach me is jimhougan@gmail.com. Phone is 434-295-4937.
Best,
Jim Hougan

By: James

James — Sun, 24 Jun 2018 16:33:01 +0000

Jim Hougan, my name is James Taylor, I am a professor of Black politics in San Francisco writing a book on Peoples Temple. I am sure you gt requests all the time to talk more about this. I would appreciate the opportunity to speak with you. Can we talk by phone? Please let me know, 510-730-5088. Thanks!

By: jimhougan

jimhougan — Wed, 20 Apr 2016 13:48:16 +0000

Kevin – thanks for your lucid commentary. The Peoples Temple catastrophe was a genuine tragedy. To tell the story properly, one would have to be both an investigative reporter and a composer of opera. That said, there is enough circumstantial evidence available that one can say with some confidence that Jim Jones was definitely operating on behalf of the FBI, penetrating African-American organizations as part of a long-running COINTELPRO conspiracy to subvert and destroy the civil rights and antiwar movements. It’s my belief that when his FBI/CIA case-officer, Dan Mitrione, died, Jones was left to his own devices for a number of years, becoming what the intelligence calls “a Frankenstein” – which is to say, a monster it created but could no longer control. All the best to you, Jim Hougan

By: S.A.

S.A. — Wed, 20 Apr 2016 02:20:37 +0000

Dear Mr Hougan, Thanks profusely for this well documented and excellent blog on Jim Jones. I’m a Bay Area born and raised resident who was a small child in 1978, nonetheless I recall how quickly and expediently the massacre was simply written off as “mass suicides” and how the assassinations of Jones’ associates Mayor Moscne and Harvey Milk riveted the attention away. Today the once affordable, union and boho SF Bay Area is a massive fortress of wealth, big tech and mostly non native borns who do not know that the majority of the victims were from SF or the East Bay.

Recently on an Oakland history website the subject was raised and
many voiced their concerns that along with the fact that the dead were treated little better than rubbish, too many loose ends and questions remain. I spent a few hours researching in depth and was appalled at how the massacre site was handled and processed among many other inexcusable oversights and missteps by the state department and the Carter administration. Of course Jim Jones being in some kind of ongoing collusion with the CIA is a given. He was exactly the kind of borderline personality they’ve perennially attracted. Did they set up Jonestown to go off as it did? Like you I find that doubtful. My hypotheses is that he was helpful to them in anti Communist, mind control and Neo colonial activities in exchange for running his concentration camp/cult unabated and for presumably moving hundreds of poor Blacks to another country. When he went absolutely totally stark raving nuts and fell apart they pulled the plug on whatever was left after the mass murder and Guyanese and US officials looked the other way and covered it up respectively. Something like that.

Ultimately the biggest crime is how the deceased children were treated and how the deceased were simply left to rot. Cargo planes and army clean up crews could have been there within a day tops and removed ever single body. So senseless and sad.

Again thank you for your lucid work and I look forward to more.

By: jimhougan

jimhougan — Mon, 25 Jan 2016 05:02:22 +0000

I’m working on something else, at the moment. But there is certainly a lot more to be said about what happened at Jonestown. The impression the press has given is that the murders and suicides were spontaneous reactions to last-minute “defections.” There are reasons, however, to believe that Jones planned the conflagration days (if not weeks) in advance of Congressman Ryan’s visit. That said, this is not something that I am currently working on. Regards,

Hougan

By: S Swain

S Swain — Mon, 25 Jan 2016 02:50:08 +0000

I very much appreciate & admire your work, Mr. Hougan. It’s the only one of it’s kind that I’ve come across in my own research. Thank you for sharing. Can we expect an upcoming Part 4 based on the new “Investigative Notes” entry?

By: jimhougan

jimhougan — Mon, 11 Jan 2016 02:24:52 +0000

Vladi – Sorry to be so long in replying. You’re right, of course – but I have no idea how the error occurred. It doesn’t even make sense. But thanks again, and all the best. (P.S. I love Switzerland, and often go hiking there.) Hougan

By: Vladi

Vladi — Tue, 03 Feb 2015 17:50:49 +0000

Dear Jim, great work, and research. Jim Jones was certainly a very complex and mysterious character. Just a small correction in regard to ODESSA, which stands for Organization of Former SS Members and not as you write: …for the Release of Former SS Members. I’ve always been fascinated by Skorzeny and have done a lot of research in that field.

All the best from Switzerland
Vladi

By: jimhougan

jimhougan — Mon, 30 Dec 2013 17:45:38 +0000

Harold -

Let me know if you receive this. My email address is jimhougan@yahoo.com.

Regards,
Hougan

By: harold emert

harold emert — Sun, 01 Dec 2013 01:16:56 +0000

Hi Jim
Plse contact me asap …much reaction to your well documented story best harold@uol.com.br