| | Up to $65,000 in monthly [[welfare]] payments from [[New Deal]] and [[Great Society]] programs to Jonestown residents were signed over to the Temple.<ref>{{Harvnb|Layton|1998|p=103}}</ref> Officials from the U.S. embassy in Georgetown interviewed [[Social Security]] recipients on multiple occasions to inquire if they were being held against their will.<ref>Pear, Richard. "State Explains Response to Cult Letters." ''Washington Star News''. November 26, 1978.</ref> None of the 75 people interviewed, according to the embassy, said they were being held captive, were forced to sign over welfare checks, or wanted to leave Jonestown.<ref>Wessinger, Catherine. ''How the Millennium Comes Violently: From Jonestown to Heaven's Gate''. 2000. ISBN|978-1-889119-24-3.</ref> Civil rights lawyers Charles Garry and Mark Lane, who represented [[James Earl Ray]], depicted Jonestown as a paradise and aggressively defended Jones in the media. | | Up to $65,000 in monthly [[welfare]] payments from [[New Deal]] and [[Great Society]] programs to Jonestown residents were signed over to the Temple.<ref>{{Harvnb|Layton|1998|p=103}}</ref> Officials from the U.S. embassy in Georgetown interviewed [[Social Security]] recipients on multiple occasions to inquire if they were being held against their will.<ref>Pear, Richard. "State Explains Response to Cult Letters." ''Washington Star News''. November 26, 1978.</ref> None of the 75 people interviewed, according to the embassy, said they were being held captive, were forced to sign over welfare checks, or wanted to leave Jonestown.<ref>Wessinger, Catherine. ''How the Millennium Comes Violently: From Jonestown to Heaven's Gate''. 2000. ISBN|978-1-889119-24-3.</ref> Civil rights lawyers Charles Garry and Mark Lane, who represented [[James Earl Ray]], depicted Jonestown as a paradise and aggressively defended Jones in the media. |
| − | [[File:The Jimmy Carter Jonestown Massacre.jpg|left|350px|thumb|'''Socialist paradise in Guyana.''' Lack of beef and living off of jungle plants is said to have added to the mass irrationality. Its leader, a community organizer named Jim Jones, was very active in Democratic party politics.]] | + | [[File:The Jimmy Carter Jonestown Massacre.jpg|left|350px|thumb|'''Socialist paradise in Guyana.''' Lack of beef and living off of jungle plants is said to have added to the mass irrationality. Its leader, a community organizer named Jim Jones, was very active in Democratic Party politics.]] |
| | As reports seeped back of people who wanted to leave Guyana, [[Harvey Milk]] – the first openly gay elected official who was endorsed by the Temple for San Francisco city councilman – wrote a letter to President Jimmy Carter defending Jones "as a man of the highest character," and stating that Temple defectors were trying to "damage Rev. Jones' reputation" with "apparent bold-faced lies".<ref>Milk, Harvey [http://www.brasscheck.com/jonestown/milk.jpg ''Letter Addressed to President Jimmy Carter, Dated February 19, 1978''] {{Webarchive|url=https://www.webcitation.org/5vybbC0i4?url=http://www.brasscheck.com/jonestown/milk.jpg |date=January 24, 2011 }}</ref> The Temple claimed that "reactionary forces were trying to destroy his [Jones] image because he is the most persistent [[Social justice warrior|fighter for social justice]].<ref>Peoples Temple, [http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/3VictimConspirBrochure.pdf ''Victims of Conspiracy Brochure''], Jonestown Alternative Considerations, San Diego State University {{cite web |url=http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/AboutJonestown/JTResearch/opposition/3VictimConspirBrochure.pdf |title=Archived copy |accessdate=2019-01-31 |deadurl=bot: unknown |archiveurl=https://www.webcitation.org/5vybVUjVl?url=http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/AboutJonestown/JTResearch/opposition/3VictimConspirBrochure.pdf |archivedate=January 24, 2011 |df= }}</ref> | | As reports seeped back of people who wanted to leave Guyana, [[Harvey Milk]] – the first openly gay elected official who was endorsed by the Temple for San Francisco city councilman – wrote a letter to President Jimmy Carter defending Jones "as a man of the highest character," and stating that Temple defectors were trying to "damage Rev. Jones' reputation" with "apparent bold-faced lies".<ref>Milk, Harvey [http://www.brasscheck.com/jonestown/milk.jpg ''Letter Addressed to President Jimmy Carter, Dated February 19, 1978''] {{Webarchive|url=https://www.webcitation.org/5vybbC0i4?url=http://www.brasscheck.com/jonestown/milk.jpg |date=January 24, 2011 }}</ref> The Temple claimed that "reactionary forces were trying to destroy his [Jones] image because he is the most persistent [[Social justice warrior|fighter for social justice]].<ref>Peoples Temple, [http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/3VictimConspirBrochure.pdf ''Victims of Conspiracy Brochure''], Jonestown Alternative Considerations, San Diego State University {{cite web |url=http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/AboutJonestown/JTResearch/opposition/3VictimConspirBrochure.pdf |title=Archived copy |accessdate=2019-01-31 |deadurl=bot: unknown |archiveurl=https://www.webcitation.org/5vybVUjVl?url=http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/AboutJonestown/JTResearch/opposition/3VictimConspirBrochure.pdf |archivedate=January 24, 2011 |df= }}</ref> |