Jim Jones founded the Peoples Temple in 1955 in Indianapolis, Indiana — originally presented as a church promoting racial equality and social justice. Over time, it evolved into an authoritarian cult centered entirely around Jones’s control. Facing media scrutiny and allegations of abuse in the United States, Jones moved his followers to a secluded agricultural settlement in the Guyanese jungle, which he called Jonestown. U.S. Congressman Leo Ryan, along with aides, reporters, and relatives of c