The Jonestown massacre in November 1978 claimed 918 lives, and then a few days later, the assassination of Mayor George Moscone and city supervisor Harvey Milk occurred at the hands of a dismissed public employee Dan White.
These events went together as a form of cosmic justice. Moscone and gay activist Harvey Milk had been among the biggest boosters of the mentally unhinged Jim Jones, who had pushed his followers into committing suicide in Guyana
Jones was well-connected to black radicals like Angela Davis; he identified with the rising gay insurgency championed by his friend Milk; and he led a cult that combined New Age features with devotion to Jones as a leader with supernatural powers.
Jones enjoyed the fervent support of the entire Democratic establishment. Whenever a complaint began to circulate, his highly placed army of defenders would spring to his aid. These included President Jimmy Carter, California Governor Jerry Brown, Lieutenant Governor Mervyn Dymally, U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein, Speaker of the California House of Representatives Willie Brown, Mayor Moscone of San Francisco to City Supervisor Milk.
https://www.american...triumphant.html
Edited by stocks, 07 November 2018 - 08:52 AM.