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{{Short description|American politician (1925–1978)}}
{{For|the Australian footballer|Leo Ryan (footballer)}}
{{Good article}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2023}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name                = Leo Ryan
| image               = Leo Ryan.jpg{{!}}border
| state               = [[California]]
| district            = {{ushr|CA|11|11th}}
| term_start          = January 3, 1973
| term_end            = November 18, 1978
| predecessor         = [[Pete McCloskey]]
| successor           = [[William Royer]]
| state_assembly1     = California
| district1           = [[California's 27th State Assembly district|27th]]
| term_start1         = January 7, 1963
| term_end1           = January 3, 1973
| predecessor1        = [[Glenn E. Coolidge]]
| successor1          = [[Lou Papan]]
| birth_name          = Leo Joseph Ryan Jr.
| birth_date          = {{birth date|1925|5|5}}
| birth_place         = [[Lincoln, Nebraska]], U.S.
| death_date          = {{death date and age|1978|11|18|1925|5|5}}
| death_place         = [[Port Kaituma]], [[Guyana]]
| death_cause         = [[Jonestown#Port Kaituma airstrip shootings|Assassination]] (gunshot&nbsp;wounds)
| restingplace        = [[Golden Gate National Cemetery]]
| party               = [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]
| spouse              = {{plainlist|
* {{marriage|Margaret Ryan|October 16, 1948|1971|end=div}}
* {{marriage| Florence Mehaffy|November 16, 1976|1977|end=div}}
}}
| children            = 5
| education           = [[Creighton University]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]], [[Master of Science|MS]])
| awards              = [[Congressional Gold Medal]] (posthumous)
| allegiance          = {{flag|United States|1912}}
| branch              = {{flagicon image|Flag of the United States Navy (1864–1959).svg}} [[United States Navy]]
| branch_label        = Branch
| serviceyears        = 1943–1946
| serviceyears_label  = Service&nbsp;years
| battles             = [[World War II]]
| battles_label       = Conflict
| caption             = Ryan in 1977
}}
'''Leo Joseph Ryan Jr.''' (May 5, 1925 – November 18, 1978) was an American teacher and politician. A member of the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]], he represented [[California's 11th congressional district]] in the [[United States House of Representatives|U.S. House of Representatives]] from 1973 until his assassination in the [[Jonestown|Jonestown massacre]] in 1978. Before that, he served in the [[California State Assembly]], representing [[California's 27th State Assembly district|the state's 27th district]].

After the 1965 [[Watts riots]], Ryan took a job as a substitute school teacher to investigate and document conditions in the Los Angeles area. In 1970, he launched an investigation into California prisons. While presiding as chairman of the Assembly committee that oversaw prison reform, he used a pseudonym to enter [[Folsom State Prison]] as an inmate. During his time in Congress, Ryan traveled to [[Newfoundland and Labrador|Newfoundland]] to investigate the practice of [[seal hunting]]. He was also known for his vocal criticism of the lack of [[congressional oversight]] of the [[Central Intelligence Agency]] (CIA), and co-authored the [[Hughes–Ryan Amendment]], passed in 1974, which requires the president of the United States to report covert CIA activity to Congress.

In 1978, Ryan traveled to [[Guyana]] to investigate claims that people were being held against their will at the [[Peoples Temple]] Jonestown settlement. He was shot and killed at an airstrip on November 18, as he and his party were attempting to leave. Shortly after the airstrip shootings, 909 members of the Jonestown settlement died in a mass murder–suicide by drinking cyanide-laced [[Flavor Aid]]. Ryan was the second sitting member of the U.S. House of Representatives to be [[List of members of the United States Congress killed or wounded in office|assassinated in office]], after [[James M. Hinds]] in 1868.<ref>Other members of the House of Representatives have been killed while in office, although not as assassination attempts; others have been the target of deliberate assassination attempts, albeit without success to date. See [[List of members of the United States Congress killed or wounded in office]] for details.</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Peters |first1=Justin |title=The Forgotten, Non-Kool-Aid-Drinking Victims of the Jonestown Massacre |url=http://www.slate.com/blogs/crime/2013/11/18/leo_ryan_jonestown_the_forgotten_non_kool_aid_drinking_victims_of_the_jonestown.html |website=[[Slate.com]]|date=November 18, 2013 |access-date=October 1, 2014}} "Thirty-five years later, Ryan remains the only U.S. representative to be killed in the line of duty."</ref>

Ryan was [[Posthumous award|posthumously]] awarded the [[Congressional Gold Medal]] in 1983.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://history.house.gov/Institution/Gold-Medal/Gold-Medal-Recipients/|title=Congressional Gold Medal Recipients &#124; US House of Representatives: History, Art & Archives|website=history.house.gov}}</ref>

== Early life and education ==
Leo Joseph Ryan Jr. was born in [[Lincoln, Nebraska]].<ref name="congressbio">{{cite web |last=United States Congress |author-link=Biographical Directory of the United States Congress |title=Ryan, Leo Joseph, (1925–1978) |publisher=United States Congress |url=http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=R000558 |access-date=January 24, 2007}}</ref> During his early life, his family moved frequently, through [[Illinois]], Florida, New York, [[Wisconsin]], and [[Massachusetts]]. Ryan graduated from [[Campion High School|Campion Jesuit High School]] in [[Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin]], in 1943.<ref>{{cite web |last=Campion Jesuit High School |author-link=Campion High School |title=Campion Knights |url=http://www.campion-knights.org/ |access-date=January 24, 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Campion Jesuit High School |author-link=Campion High School |title=Campion Forever |url=http://www.campionforever.org/ |access-date=January 24, 2007}}</ref> He then received [[V-12 Navy College Training Program|V-12]] officer training at [[Bates College]] and served with the [[United States Navy]] from 1943 to 1946 as a [[submarine]]r.<ref>{{cite web |last=Campion Jesuit High School |author-link=Campion High School |title=Campion Knights Notables |url=http://www.campion-knights.org/notables.html |access-date=January 24, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060215201631/http://campion-knights.org/notables.html |archive-date=February 15, 2006 }}</ref>

Ryan graduated from Nebraska's [[Creighton University]] with a [[Bachelor of Arts|B.A.]] in 1949 and an [[Master of Science|M.S.]] in 1951.<ref name="congressbio" /> He served as a teacher, school administrator and [[South San Francisco, California|South San Francisco]] city councilman from 1956 to 1962. He taught English at [[Capuchino High School]], and chaperoned the marching band in 1961 to Washington, D.C., to participate in President [[John F. Kennedy]]'s inaugural parade.<ref>{{cite book|author=Michael Newton|author-link=Michael Newton (author)|title=Famous Assassinations in World History: An Encyclopedia &#91;2 volumes&#93;|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F4-dAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA491|date= 2014|publisher=[[ABC-CLIO]]|isbn=978-1610692861|pages=491–492}}</ref> Ryan was inspired by Kennedy's [[Inauguration of John F. Kennedy#Inaugural address|call to service in his inaugural address]] and decided to run for higher office.<ref name="simon1998">{{Cite news |last=Simon |first=Mark |title=A Trip Into The Heart Of Darkness: Always larger than life, Leo Ryan courted danger. |url=https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/A-Trip-Into-The-Heart-Of-Darkness-Always-larger-2978386.php|work=[[San Francisco Chronicle]] |date=November 17, 1998}}</ref>

==Career==
[[File:1973 Congressional Pictorial Leo Ryan.jpg|thumb|left|150px|Official Congressional photo from Ryan's first term as Congressman, 1973|alt=Black and white of a man wearing a suit and a tie. His name is written below.]]

===State of California===
In 1962, Ryan was elected mayor of South San Francisco. He served less than a year before being elected to the [[California State Assembly]], winning the 27th district race by 20,000 votes.<ref name="simon1998" /><ref name="joincalifornia" /> He had run for the Assembly's 25th district in 1958, but lost to Republican [[Louis Francis]].<ref name="joincalifornia" /> Ryan served as a delegate to the [[Democratic National Convention]] in 1964 and 1968<ref name="congressbio" /> and held his Assembly seat until 1972, when he was elected to the United States House of Representatives. He was reelected three times.<ref name="congressbio" />

Ryan aide [[Jackie Speier]], who later served in Congress, described Ryan's style of investigation as "experiential legislating".<ref name="simon1998" /> After the [[Watts riots]] of 1965, Ryan went to the area and took a job as a substitute school teacher to investigate and document conditions there. In 1970, using a pseudonym, Ryan had himself arrested, detained, and strip-searched to investigate conditions in California's prisons. He stayed for ten days as an inmate at [[Folsom State Prison]] while presiding as chairman on the Assembly committee that oversaw prison reform.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wright |first=Erik Olin |title=The Politics of Punishment: A Critical Analysis of Prisons in America |url=https://archive.org/details/politicspunishme00wrig |url-access=limited |publisher=Harper & Row |year=1973 |page=[https://archive.org/details/politicspunishme00wrig/page/n143 266] |isbn=978-0060903183 }}</ref><ref name="haddock2003">{{Cite news |last=Haddock |first=Vicki |title=Jackie Speier – moving on, moving up; Survivor of Jonestown ambush plans run for lieutenant governor. |work=[[San Francisco Chronicle]] |page=D1 |date=November 16, 2003}}</ref>

As a California assemblyman, Ryan also chaired legislative subcommittee hearings and presided over hearings involving [[Tom Lantos]], his eventual successor in the House.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Schwartzman |first=Edward |title=Political Campaign Craftsmanship: A Professional's Guide to Campaigning for Public Office |publisher=Transaction Publishers |year=1989 |page=209 |isbn=088738742X}}</ref> Ryan pushed through significant educational policies and authored what came to be known as the Ryan Act, which established an independent regulatory commission to monitor educational credentialing in California.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gideonse |first=Hendrik D. |title=Teacher Education Policy: narratives, stories, and cases |publisher=SUNY Press |year=1992 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/teachereducation0000unse_v8a4/page/49 49, 50, 65] |isbn=0791410552 |url=https://archive.org/details/teachereducation0000unse_v8a4/page/49 }}</ref>

===United States Congress===
During his time in Congress, Ryan went to [[Newfoundland and Labrador|Newfoundland]] with [[Jim Jeffords|James Jeffords]] to investigate the inhumane killing of seals,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wenzel |first=George W. |title=Animal Rights, Human Rights: Ecology, Economy and Ideology in the Canadian Arctic |publisher=University of Toronto Press |year=1991 |page=48 |isbn=0802068901}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Hunter |first=Robert |title=Warriors of the Rainbow: A Chronicle of the Greenpeace Movement |publisher=Holt, Rinehart and Winston |year=1979 |pages=439, 441 |isbn=0030437415}}</ref> and became famous for his vocal criticism of the lack of [[Congressional oversight]] of the [[Central Intelligence Agency]] (CIA), authoring the [[Hughes–Ryan Amendment]],<ref>{{Cite book |last=Olmsted |first=Kathryn S. |title=Challenging the Secret Government: The Post-Watergate Investigations of the CIA and FBI |publisher=UNC Press |year=1996 |page=45 |isbn=0807845620}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |publisher=[[Johns Hopkins University]] − School of Advanced International Studies |title=SAIS Review |year=1989 |page=112}}</ref> which would have required extensive CIA notification of Congress about [[covert operation]]s.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ellis |first=W. Philip |author2=Barry M. Blechman |title=The Politics of National Security: Congress and U.S. Defense Policy |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1992 |page=146 |isbn=0195077059}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Knott |first=Stephen F. |title=Secret and Sanctioned: covert operations and the American presidency |year=1996 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |page=176 |isbn=0195100980}}</ref> Ryan once told [[Dick Cheney]] that leaking a state secret was an appropriate way for a member of Congress to block an "ill-conceived operation".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rozell |first=Mark J. |title=Executive Privilege: The Dilemma of Secrecy and Democratic Accountability |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |year=1994 |page=[https://archive.org/details/executiveprivile0000roze/page/52 52] |isbn=0801849004 |url=https://archive.org/details/executiveprivile0000roze/page/52 }}</ref> He supported [[Patty Hearst]], and along with [[S. I. Hayakawa|Senator S. I. Hayakawa]], delivered Hearst's application for a presidential [[Commutation (law)|commutation]] to the Pardon Attorney.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hearst |first=Patricia C. |author-link=Patricia Hearst |author2=Alvin Moscow |title=Every Secret Thing|publisher=Doubleday Publishing |year=1980 |pages=440, 441 |isbn=0385170564}}</ref>

==Peoples Temple==
===First investigations===
{{Main|Peoples Temple|Peoples Temple in San Francisco}}
In 1978, reports of widespread abuse and [[Human rights#Violations|human rights violations]] in [[Jonestown]] at the [[Peoples Temple]], led by [[cult]] [[Leadership|leader]] [[Jim Jones]], began to filter out of its [[Guyana]] enclaves. Ryan was friends with the father of former Temple member Bob Houston, whose mutilated body was found near train tracks on October 5, 1976, three days after a taped telephone conversation with Houston's ex-wife in which they discussed his leaving the Temple.<ref name="reiterman299">{{Harvnb|Reiterman|Jacobs|1982|pp=299–300, 457}}</ref> Ryan's interest was further aroused by the custody battle between the leader of a "Concerned Relatives" group, [[Timothy Stoen]], and Jones following a Congressional "white paper" by Stoen detailing the events.<ref name="hall227">{{Cite book |author=Hall, John R. |title=Gone from the Promised Land: Jonestown in American Cultural History |publisher=[[Transaction Publishers]] |location=New Brunswick, New Jersey |year=1987 |isbn=0887381243|page=227}}</ref><ref name="reiterman458">{{Harvnb|Reiterman|Jacobs|1982|p=458}}</ref> Ryan was one of 91 congressmen to write Guyanese Prime Minister [[Forbes Burnham]] on Stoen's behalf.<ref name="reiterman299" /><ref name="hall227" />

After reading an article in the ''[[San Francisco Examiner]]'', Ryan declared his intention to go to [[Jonestown]], an [[agricultural commune]] in Guyana where Jones and roughly 1,000 Temple members resided. His decision was also influenced both by the Concerned Relatives group, which consisted primarily of Californians, as did the Temple, and by his own distaste for social injustice.<ref>{{Cite book |last=McConnell |first=Malcolm |title=Stepping Over: personal encounters with young extremists |publisher=[[Reader's Digest Press]]|year=1984 |page=[https://archive.org/details/steppingoverpers00mcco/page/67 67] |isbn=0883491664 |url=https://archive.org/details/steppingoverpers00mcco/page/67 }}</ref> According to the ''[[San Francisco Chronicle]]'', while he investigated, the [[United States Department of State]] "repeatedly stonewalled Ryan's attempts to find out what was going on in Jonestown" and told him that "everything was fine".<ref name="simon1998" />

The State Department characterized possible United States government action in Guyana against Jonestown as a potential "legal controversy", but Ryan at least partially rejected this viewpoint.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Dawson |first=Lorne L. |author-link=Lorne L. Dawson |title=Cults and New Religious Movements: A Reader |publisher=[[Blackwell Publishing]] |year=2003 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/cultsnewreligiou0000unse/page/186 186, 200, 205] |isbn=1405101814 |url=https://archive.org/details/cultsnewreligiou0000unse/page/186 }}</ref> In a later article in ''The Chronicle'', Ryan was described as having "bucked the local Democratic establishment and the [[Presidency of Jimmy Carter|Jimmy Carter administration's]] State Department" in order to prepare for his own investigation.<ref name="haddock2003" />

===Travel to Jonestown===
{{Main|Jonestown}}
In November 1978, Ryan led an investigative delegation to Jonestown<ref>Rebecca Moore, [http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/?page_id=16581 ''American as Cherry Pie''], 2000, Jonestown Institute, San Diego State University</ref> as part of a government investigation, with governmental permission and funding,<ref name="Chidester" /> in his role as chair of a congressional subcommittee with jurisdiction over U.S. citizens living in foreign countries. He asked the other members of the Bay Area congressional delegation to join him on the trip to Jonestown, but they all declined.<ref name="simon1998" /> Ryan also invited his friend, [[Indiana]] Congressman and future Vice President [[Dan Quayle]], who had served with Ryan on the Government Operations Committee, but Quayle was unable to go.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Quayle |first=Dan |author-link=Dan Quayle |title=Standing Firm: A Vice-Presidential Memoir |publisher=[[HarperCollins]]|year=1995 |page=176 |isbn=0061093904}}</ref>

The investigative group was initially to consist only of press and a few members of Ryan's staff, but once the media learned of the trip the entourage ballooned to include, among others, concerned relatives of Temple members. Ryan traveled to Jonestown with 17 Bay Area relatives of Peoples Temple members, several newspaper reporters and an [[NBC]] TV team.<ref name="zane1998">{{Cite news |last=Zane |first=Maitland |title=Surviving the Heart of Darkness: Twenty years later, Jackie Speier remembers how her companions and rum helped her endure the night of the Jonestown massacre. |work=[[San Francisco Chronicle]] |page=1 |date=November 13, 1998}}</ref> When Jones's legal counsel attempted to impose restrictive conditions on the visit, Ryan responded that he would go to Jonestown whether Jones permitted it or not. Ryan's stated position was that a "settlement deep in the bush might be reasonably run on authoritarian lines"<ref name="zane1998" /> but that its residents must be allowed to come and go as they pleased. He further asserted that if the place had become "a [[gulag]]", he would do everything he could to "free the captives."<ref name="zane1998" />

On November 14,<ref name="affairsreport">{{Cite conference |last=United States House of Representatives |author-link=United States House of Representatives |author2=Foreign Affairs Committee |title=Congressional Foreign Affairs Committee report on Ryan's assassination |conference=Report of a Staff Investigative Group to the Committee on Foreign Affairs |publisher=United States Congress |date=May 15, 1979 }}</ref> Ryan left Washington and arrived in [[Georgetown, Guyana|Georgetown]], the capital of Guyana, {{convert|150|mi}} from Jonestown, with his congressional delegation of government officials, media representatives and some members of the "Concerned Relatives."<ref name="reiterman481">{{Harvnb|Reiterman|Jacobs|1982|p=481}}</ref>
{{Location map many |Guyana
| label=Jonestown
| label_size=100
    |pos=bottom |bg=yellow
    |lat=7.66 |long=-60.187
    |marksize=8
|label1=|coordinates1=| label2=Georgetown
| label2_size=70
    |lat2=6.807 |long2=-58.159
    |mark2size=7
| label3=Kaituma
| label3_size=70
    |pos3=right
    |lat3=7.84 |long3=-60.01
    |mark3size=7
| width=150 | float=right
| background=#FFFFDD
| caption=Jonestown, Guyana
}}
That night the delegation stayed at a local hotel where, despite confirmed reservations, most of the rooms had been canceled and reassigned, leaving the delegation to sleep in the lobby.<ref name="reiterman482">{{Harvnb|Reiterman|Jacobs|1982|p=482}}</ref> For three days, Ryan continued to negotiate with Jones's legal counsel and held perfunctory meetings with embassy personnel and Guyanese officials.<ref name="reiterman482-4">{{Harvnb|Reiterman|Jacobs|1982|pp=482–84}}</ref>

While in Georgetown, Ryan visited the Temple's Georgetown headquarters in the suburb of Lamaha Gardens.<ref name="reiterman484">{{Harvnb|Reiterman|Jacobs|1982|p=484}}</ref> He asked to speak to Jones by radio. Sharon Amos, the highest-ranking Temple member present, told Ryan that he could not, because his visit was unscheduled.<ref name="reiterman481" /> On November 17, Ryan's aide [[Jackie Speier]] (who became a Congresswoman in 2008), the United States embassy Deputy Chief of Mission Richard Dwyer, a Guyanese Ministry of Information officer, nine journalists, and four Concerned Relatives representatives of the delegation boarded a small plane for the flight to [[Port Kaituma Airport]], a few miles outside of Jonestown.<ref name="affairsreport" />

At first, only the Temple legal counsel was allowed off the plane, but eventually the entire entourage, excluding Gordon Lindsay, reporting for [[NBC]], was allowed in. Initially, the group was warmly welcomed,<ref name="Chidester">{{Cite book |last=Chidester |first=David |title=Salvation and Suicide: Jim Jones, the Peoples Temple, and Jonestown |publisher=[[Indiana University Press]] |year=2003 |pages=xvii, 11, 139, 151, 167–168, 186 |isbn=025321632X |no-pp=true}}</ref> but Temple member Vernon Gosney handed NBC correspondent [[Don Harris (journalist)|Don Harris]] (mistaking him for Ryan) a note that read "Vernon Gosney and (Temple member) Monica Bagby: please help us get out of Jonestown." Jones was made aware of the note, and Gosney tried and failed to impress upon Ryan the extreme danger that his delegation was now in.<ref name="zane1998" />

That night the media and the delegation returned to the airfield for accommodations after Jones refused to let them stay the night. The rest of the group remained.<ref name="affairsreport" /> The next morning, Ryan, Speier, and Dwyer continued their interviews, and met a woman who secretly expressed her wish to leave Jonestown with her family and another family. Around 11:00&nbsp;a.m., the media and the delegation returned and took part in interviewing [[Peoples Temple]] members. Around 3:00&nbsp;p.m., 14 Temple defectors, and Larry Layton posing as a defector, boarded a truck and were taken to the airstrip, with Ryan wishing to stay another night to assist any others who wanted to leave. Shortly thereafter, a knife attack on Ryan failed while he was arbitrating a family dispute on leaving.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Milhorn |first=H. Thomas |title=Crime: Computer Viruses to Twin Towers |publisher=Universal-Publishers.com |year=2004 |page=392 |isbn=1581124899}}</ref> Against Ryan's protests, Dwyer ordered Ryan to leave, but he promised to return later to address the dispute.<ref name="affairsreport" />

===Jungle ambush and assassination===

[[File:BobBrownKaituma.jpg|thumb|250px|Camera-shot by Bob Brown (NBC) of Temple gunmen|alt=An empty truck sits on an airfield.]]
The entire group left Jonestown and arrived at the Kaituma airstrip by 4:45&nbsp;p.m. Their exit transport planes, a twin-engine Otter and a Cessna, did not arrive until 5:10&nbsp;p.m. The smaller six-seat Cessna was taxiing to the end of the runway when one of its occupants, Larry Layton, opened fire on those inside, wounding several.

Concurrently, several other Peoples Temple members who had escorted the group out began to open fire on the transport plane, killing Ryan, three journalists and a defecting Temple member, while wounding nine others, including Speier.<ref name="reiterman299" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Singer, Ph.D. |first=Margaret Thaler |author-link=Margaret Singer |author2=Janja Lalich|author2-link=Janja Lalich |title=[[Cults in our Midst (book)|Cults in Our Midst: The Hidden Menace in Our Everyday Lives]] |publisher=Jossey Bass |year=1995 |pages=28, 237}}</ref> The gunmen riddled Ryan's body with over 20 bullets before shooting him in the face.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Snow |first=Robert L. |title=[[Deadly Cults]]: The Crimes of True Believers |publisher=Praeger/Greenwood |year=2003 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/deadlycultscrime00snow/page/36 36, 38, 166, 168] |isbn=0275980529 }}</ref> The passengers on the Cessna subdued Layton and the survivors on both planes fled into nearby fields during and after the attack.<ref name="affairsreport" />

That afternoon, before the news became public, the wife of Ryan's aide William Holsinger received three threatening phone calls. The caller allegedly said, "Tell your husband that his meal ticket just had his brains blown out, and he better be careful." The Holsingers then fled to Lake Tahoe and later Houston.{{citation needed|date=November 2022}}

After taking off, the Cessna radioed in a report of the attack, and U.S. Ambassador [[John R. Burke]] went to the residence of Prime Minister Burnham.<ref name="affairsreport" /> It was not until the next morning that the [[Guyana Defence Force|Guyanese army]] could cut through the jungle and reach Jonestown.<ref name="affairsreport" /> They discovered 909 of its inhabitants dead after consuming grape Flavor-aid mixed with several poisons. They died in what the United States House of Representatives described as a "mass suicide/murder ritual."<ref name="affairsreport" />

===Conviction of Larry Layton===
Larry Layton (born January 11, 1946), brother of Deborah Layton, a former Peoples Temple member and author of ''[[Seductive Poison]]'', was convicted in 1986 of conspiracy in Ryan's murder.<ref>{{Cite news |agency=[[Associated Press]] |title=Ex-Cult Member Convicted In Death of Rep. Leo Ryan : '78 Shooting Led to Jonestown Mass Suicide |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |page=A5 |date=December 2, 1986 }}</ref> Temple defectors boarding the truck to Port Kaituma had said of Layton that "there's no way he's a defector. He's too close to Jones."<ref name="reiterman520">{{Harvnb|Reiterman|Jacobs|1982|p=520}}</ref> Layton was the only former Temple member to be tried in the United States for criminal acts relating to the murders at Jonestown.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Drew |first=Bettina |title=Indiana Jones's Temple of Doom |newspaper=[[The Nation]] |date=February 1, 1999 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |agency=[[Associated Press]] |title=Layton Convicted for Role in 1978 Jonestown Killing |newspaper=[[Boston Globe]] |date=December 2, 1986 }}</ref> He was convicted on four different conspiracy-related counts.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Staff |title=Layton Guilty in Guyana Shootings|newspaper=[[Sacramento Bee]] |page=A1 |date=December 2, 1986 }}</ref>

On March 3, 1987, Layton was sentenced to concurrent sentences of life in prison for "aiding and abetting the murder of Congressman Leo Ryan", "conspiracy to murder an internationally protected person, Richard Dwyer, Deputy Chief of Mission for the United States in the Republic of Guyana", as well as 15 years in prison on other related counts.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bassiouni |first=M. Cherif |title=Legal Responses to International Terrorism: U.S. procedural aspects |publisher=Martinus Nijhoff Publishers |year=1998 |pages=169–170 |isbn=0898389313}}</ref> He was eligible for parole in five years.<ref name="laytonmotion">{{Cite court |litigants=United States of America v. Laurence John Layton |vol=666 F.Supp. 1369, No. CR-80-416 RFP. |reporter=U.S. |opinion= |pinpoint= |court=United States District Court, N.D. California. |date=June 3, 1987 |url=}}</ref> On June 3, 1987, the [[United States District Court for the Northern District of California]] denied Layton's motion to set aside the conviction "on the ground that he was denied the effective assistance of counsel during his second trial".<ref name="laytonmotion" /> After 18 years in prison, Layton was released on parole in April 2002.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://jonestown.sdsu.edu/?page_id=32946|title=The Campaign to Release Larry Layton from Federal Prison – Alternative Considerations of Jonestown & Peoples Temple}}</ref>

==Memorial==

[[Veterans for Peace]] Chapter 124 was named the Leo J. Ryan Memorial chapter.

===Burial===
[[File:Leo J. Ryan headstone.JPG|thumb|Ryan's headstone|alt=A white-colored tombstone stands in the middle of a cemetery. "Leo J. Ryan Jr" is engraved on it.]]
Ryan's body was returned to the United States and interred at [[Golden Gate National Cemetery]] in [[San Bruno, California]]. His official Congressional Memorial Services were compiled into a book, ''Leo J. Ryan – Memorial Services – Held In The House Of Representatives & Senate Of The U.S., Together With Remarks''.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Joint Committee On Printing |author2=United States Government Printing |title=Leo J. Ryan – Memorial Services – Held In The House Of Representatives & Senate Of The U.S., Together With Remarks |publisher=[[United States Congress]] |year=1979 |location=Washington, D.C. |page=89 }}</ref> Ryan's younger sister Shannon said she was surprised both by the number of supporters who attended the funeral and by the "outgrowth of real, honest sorrow".<ref name="sudol">{{Cite news |last=Sudol |first=Karen |title=Keeping her brother's memory alive : Rep. Ryan's sister won't let people forget him or Jonestown |newspaper=[[Asbury Park Press]] |date=November 24, 2004 |quote=Ryan is the only member of Congress to have been killed in the line of duty and was posthumously recognized in the 1980s with a congressional award presented by then-President Ronald Reagan. }}</ref>

==Legacy and honors==
* In 1983, the United States Congress posthumously awarded Ryan a [[Congressional Gold Medal]], as the only member of Congress killed in the line of duty; President [[Ronald Reagan]] signed the bill.<ref name="reaganstatement">{{Cite press release |title=Statement on Signing the Bill Authorizing a Congressional Gold Medal Honoring the Late Representative Leo J. Ryan |publisher=[[Ronald Reagan]] |date=November 18, 1983 |url=http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=40789 |access-date=January 24, 2007}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Trescott |first=Jacqueline |title=Leo Ryan honored (with Medal of Honor) |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |page=v107 pC4 col 5 (10 col in) |date=November 30, 1984}}</ref> In Reagan's remarks about the medal, he said: "It was typical of Leo Ryan's concern for his constituents that he would investigate personally the rumors of mistreatment in Jonestown that reportedly affected so many from his district."<ref name="reaganstatement" /> Ryan's daughters Patricia and Erin helped garner support for the medal in time for the fifth anniversary of his death.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Herald Staff |title=People Update: Pat and Erin Ryan |newspaper=[[The Miami Herald]] |page=2A |date=July 11, 1983 }}</ref>
* In 1984, the National Archives and Records Center in [[San Bruno, California]] was named the [[Leo J. Ryan Federal Building]] in his honor, through a Congressional bill passed unanimously and signed by Reagan.<ref>''[[The Washington Post]]'', November 30, 1984, v107 pC4 col 5 (10 col in), "Leo Ryan honored. (with Medal of Honor)" Jacqueline Trescott.</ref>
* In 1998, [[Jackie Speier]], Ryan's former aide, was elected to the California State Senate. In 2008, she won a special election to the US Congress from [[California's 12th congressional district]], much of it formerly Ryan's constituency.<ref name="SFC 4-9-08">{{Cite web|url=https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Voters-send-Jackie-Speier-to-Washington-3288063.php|title=Voters send Jackie Speier to Washington|first=John|last=Wildermuth|date=April 9, 2008|website=SFGATE}}</ref> Since 2013, it has been the state's [[California's 14th congressional district|14th congressional district]].

===Daughters===
[[File:Shannon Jo Ryan, Rajneesh movement member, cropped.jpg|thumb|upright|Shannon Jo Ryan in 1981]]
Shannon Jo Ryan (born 1952), Ryan's eldest daughter, joined the [[Rajneesh movement]]. After the [[Rajneesh|Bhagwan]] moved to Oregon in 1981, she joined his commune, which became known as [[Rajneeshpuram]].<ref name="Chidester" /><ref>{{Cite news |last=Endicott |first=William |title=Leo Ryan's Daughter Joins Cult : Shannon Jo Ryan Follows Religious Guru |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |page=C1 |date=January 12, 1981 }}</ref><ref name="staff">{{Cite news |last=Staff. |title=Leo Ryan's Daughter Weds Guru Disciple |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |page=D12 |date=December 22, 1982 }}</ref> Taking the name Ma Amrita Pritam, by December 1982 she had married another member, who also lived at the commune.<ref name="ap">{{Cite news |agency=[[Associated Press]] |title=Dad 'would understand' why she lives with cult group. |newspaper=The Chronicle-Telegram, [[Elyria, Ohio]] |page=A6 |date=November 20, 1984 }}</ref>

Patricia Ryan (born 1953) received her master's degree in [[public administration]] from [[George Washington University]] in Washington, D.C., and served from 2001 to 2012 as executive director of the California Mental Health Directors Association (now the County Behavioral Health Directors Association of California). During the 1980s she became involved as a volunteer and eventually served as president of the board of the national [[Cult Awareness Network]].<ref name="erinryan">{{Cite news |last=Dearen |first=Jason |title=Erin Ryan wants father to be appreciated |newspaper=[[Oakland Tribune]] |date=November 18, 2003 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Tuman |first=Myron C. |title=A Guide to Deep Thinking in a Shallow Age |publisher=Xlibris Corporation |year=2002 |page=82 |isbn=1401052290}}{{self-published source|date=December 2017}}</ref>

Erin Ryan (born 1958) graduated from the [[University of California, Hastings College of the Law]] and worked as an intelligence analyst for the [[Central Intelligence Agency]] until 1992. She next worked in New York as a pastry chef for eight years. In 2000, Erin Ryan became an aide to her father's former aide, California Congresswoman Jackie Speier.<ref name="erinryan" />

===Anniversaries===
[[File:Leo J. Ryan Park.jpg|thumb|Sign at the [[Leo J. Ryan Memorial Park]]|alt=A blue sign stands in the middle of a park. "Leo J. Ryan Park" is written on it.]]
[[File:Leo J Ryan Post Office.jpg|thumb|right|Leo J. Ryan Post Office Building|alt=The entrance of a post office. There are several cars in front of it.]]
On the 25th anniversary of Ryan's death, a special memorial tribute was held in his honor in [[Foster City, California]]. His family and friends, including his three daughters and Jackie Speier, attended. The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' reported, "Over and over today, people described a great man who continually exceeded his constituents' expectations."<ref name="tributetocongressman" />

Near the end of the memorial service, parents of those who had died in Jonestown stood to honor and thank Ryan for giving his life while trying to save their children. After the service ended, mounted police escorted the family and friends into Foster City's [[Leo J. Ryan Memorial Park]]. A wreath was laid next to a commemorative rock that honors Ryan.<ref name="tributetocongressman">{{Cite news |last=Bay City News Report |title=Tribute to congressman Leo Ryan held in Foster City. |work=[[San Francisco Chronicle]] |date=November 18, 2003 |url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/gate/archive/2003/11/18/ryan18.DTL |access-date=January 24, 2007}}</ref>

The same year, his daughter Erin Ryan, an aide to Speier, attended a memorial for those who died at Jonestown, held at the [[Evergreen Cemetery (Oakland, California)|Evergreen Cemetery]] in Oakland.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Delevett |first=Peter |title=Two children remember fathers' legacies 25 years after Jonestown. |newspaper=[[San Jose Mercury News]] |date=November 15, 2003 }}</ref> On each anniversary of Leo Ryan's death, [[Jackie Speier]] and Patricia Ryan visit his grave at the [[Golden Gate National Cemetery]].<ref name="zane1998" />

For the 30th anniversary, Speier sponsored a bill to designate the [[United States Postal Service]] facility at 210 South Ellsworth Avenue in [[San Mateo, California]], the "Leo J. Ryan Post Office Building".<ref>{{cite web |last=Govtrack.us |title=H.R. 6982: To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 210 South ...|url=http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h110-6982 |access-date=November 18, 2008}}</ref> President [[George W. Bush]] signed it into law on October 21, 2008.<ref>{{cite web |last=The White House |title=President Bush Signs H.R. 3511, H.R. 4010, H.R. 4131, H.R. 6558, H.R. 6681, H.R. 6834, H.R. 6847, H.R. 6902, and H.R. 6982 Into Law |url=https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2008/10/20081021-7.html |access-date=November 18, 2008}}</ref> On November 17, 2008, Speier spoke at the dedication ceremony at the post office. In part, she said,

<blockquote>There are those – still, thirty years after his passing – who question his motives, or the wisdom of his actions. But criticism was just fine with Leo. Leo Ryan never did anything because he thought it would make him popular. He was more interested in doing what he knew was right.<ref>{{cite web |last=Congresswoman Jackie Speier |title=Leo J. Ryan Post Office Dedication |url=http://www.house.gov/htbin/blog_inc?BLOG,ca12_speier,blog,999,All,Item%20not%20found,ID=081117_2533,TEMPLATE=postingdetail.shtml |access-date=2008-11-18}}</ref></blockquote>

==In popular culture==
Ryan has been portrayed in films about the Jonestown mass murder/suicide, including by actor [[Gene Barry]] in the 1979 film ''[[Guyana: Crime of the Century]]'',<ref>{{Cite AV media |people=René Cardona Jr. |title=Guyana: Crime of the Century |medium=Film |publisher=[[Universal Pictures]] |date=1979}}</ref> and by [[Ned Beatty]] in the 1980 made-for-TV miniseries ''[[Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones]]''.<ref>{{Cite AV media |people=[[William A. Graham (director)|William A. Graham]] |title=[[Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones]] |medium=Film |publisher=CBS Television |date=1980}}</ref>

His assassination was discussed in the documentaries ''[[Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple]]'' (2006),<ref>{{Cite AV media |people=Stanley Nelson |title=[[Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple]] |medium=Documentary |publisher=Firelight Media |date=October 20, 2006}}</ref> on [[History (American TV channel)|The History Channel]] documentaries ''Cults: Dangerous Devotion''<ref>{{Cite AV media |people=The History Channel |title=Decoding the Past: Cults: Dangerous Devotion: Scholars and survivors discuss the mystery of cults. |medium=Documentary |publisher=A&E Television Networks |date=2006}}</ref> and ''[[Jonestown: Paradise Lost]]'' (2006),<ref>{{Cite AV media |people=The History Channel |title=Jonestown Paradise Lost: Congressman Leo Ryan's fatal journey into "Jonestown," a community carved out of the jungles of Guyana by followers of pastor Jim Jones. |medium=Documentary |publisher=A&E Television Networks |date=2006}}</ref> and the [[MSNBC]] production ''Witness to Jonestown'' (2008), which aired on the 30th anniversary of Ryan's assassination and the mass suicides at Jonestown.<ref>{{Cite AV media |people=[[MSNBC]] |title=Witness to Jonestown |medium=Documentary |publisher=[[NBC]] |date=2008}}</ref> In 2012, [[National Geographic (American TV channel)|National Geographic]]'s ''[[Seconds From Disaster]]'' aired the sixth-season episode "Jonestown Cult Suicide", which recreated Ryan's assassination.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://natgeotv.com.au/tv/seconds-from-disaster/episodes.aspx?series=6 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130306054611/http://natgeotv.com.au/tv/seconds-from-disaster/episodes.aspx?series=6 |url-status=dead |archive-date=March 6, 2013 |title=Seconds From Disaster: Series 6 |work=[[National Geographic Australia]] |year=2012 |access-date=February 22, 2018}}</ref> His role in the Jonestown Massacre was show in the series ''Murder Made Me Famous'',, appearing in the episode "Jim Jones".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://people.com/crime/jonestown-massacre-audio-recordings-murder-made-famous/|title=Eerie Audio Recordings of the Jonestown Massacre Show Jim Jones' Descent into Murderous Madness|last=Helling|first=Steve|date=May 6, 2017|access-date=October 26, 2025|website=people.com|publisher=[[People (magazine)|People]]}}</ref>

==Electoral history==
Source<ref name="joincalifornia">{{cite web |last=Vassar |first=Alex |author2=Shane Meyers |title=Leo J. Ryan, Democratic |work=JoinCalifornia.com |year=2007 |url=http://www.joincalifornia.com/candidate/603 |access-date=January 25, 2007}}</ref>
{{Col-begin}}
{{Col-break}}
;1978 election for U.S. House of Representatives (CD 11)
* Leo J. Ryan (D), 60.5%
* Dave Welch (R), 35.6%
* Nicholas W. Kudrovzeff (American Independent) 3.9%

;1976 election for U.S. House of Representatives (CD 11)
* Leo J. Ryan (D), 61.1%
* Bob Jones (R), 35.4%
* Nicholas W. Kudrovzeff (American Independent) 3.5%

;1974 election for U.S. House of Representatives (CD 11)
* Leo J. Ryan (D), 75.8%
* Brainard G. "Bee" Merdinger (R), 21.3%
* Nicholas W. Kudrovzeff (American Independent) 2.9%

;1972 election for U.S. House of Representatives (CD 11)
* Leo J. Ryan (D), 60.4%
* Charles E. Chase (R), 37%
* Nicholas W. Kudrovzeff (American Independent) 2.6%
{{Col-break}}
;1970 Race for California State Assembly (AD 27)
* Leo J. Ryan (D), 73.2%
* John R. Sherman (R), 23.1%
* John Lynch (American Independent) 3.8%

;1968 election for California State Assembly (AD 27)
* Leo J. Ryan (D), 99.8%
* Will Slocum (I), 0.2%

;1966 election for California State Assembly (AD 27)
* Leo J. Ryan (D), 56.9%
* Robert N. Miller (R), 43.1%

;1964 election for California State Assembly (AD 27)
* Leo J. Ryan (D), 69%
* Andrew C. Byrd (R), 31%

;1962 election for California State Assembly (AD 27)
* Leo J. Ryan (D), 63.5%
* Andrew C. Byrd (R), 36.5%

;1958 election for California State Assembly (AD 25)
* Louis Francis (R), 50.6%
* Leo J. Ryan (D), 49.4%
{{col-end}}

==Published works==
;Books
* ''[[USA/From Where We Stand|USA/From Where We Stand: Readings in Contemporary American Problems]]'', paperback book, [[Fearon Publishers]] (1970)
* ''Understanding California Government and Politics'', 152 pages, [[Fearon Publishers]] (1966)
;Congressional reports
* ''NATO, pressures from the southern tier'': report of a study mission to Europe, August 5–27, 1975, pursuant to H. Res. 315, 22 pages, published by United States Government Print Office, 1975
* ''Vietnam and Korea: Human rights and U.S. assistance'': a study mission report of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, U.S. House of Representatives, 15 pages, published by United States Government Print Office, 1975
* ''The United States oil shortage and the Arab-Israeli conflict'': report of a study mission to the Middle East from October 22 to November 3, 1973, 76 pages, published by United States Government Print Office, 1973

==See also==
{{Portal|United States|Politics|Biography}}
* [[Cult#Destructive cults|Cult § Destructive cults]]
* [[List of assassinated American politicians]]
* [[List of Congressional Gold Medal recipients]]
* [[List of members of the United States Congress killed or wounded in office]]
* [[List of members of the United States Congress who died in office (1950–1999)]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

==References==
* {{Cite book |last=Ryan |first=Leo J. |title=Understanding California Government and Politics |publisher=Fearon Publishers |location=Palo Alto, CA |year=1966}}
* {{Cite book |last=Hall |first=John R. |title=Gone from the Promised Land: Jonestown in American Cultural History |publisher=Transaction Publishers |location=New Brunswick, New Jersey |year=1987 |isbn=0887381243 }}
* {{Cite book |last1=Reiterman |first1=Tim |author-link=Tim Reiterman |first2=John |last2=Jacobs |title=[[Raven (Reiterman book)|Raven: The Untold Story of Rev. Jim Jones and His People]] |publisher=Dutton |year=1982 |isbn=0525241361 }}

==Further reading==
* [http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=R000558 Biography], ''[[Biographical Directory of the United States Congress]]''
* [http://www.congressionalgoldmedal.com/LeoJRyan.htm Congressional Gold Medal] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031224215042/http://www.congressionalgoldmedal.com/LeoJRyan.htm |date=December 24, 2003 }}, Text of the act issuing the Congressional Gold Medal and an FBI report summary as well as an article on both Jones and his involvement and the investigation
* {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070627182834/http://lantos.house.gov/HoR/CA12/Newsroom/Press+Releases/2003/11-17-03+Congressman+Tom+Lantos+Remarks+on+the+25th+Anniversary+of+the+Tragedy+at+Jonestown+and+the.htm |date=June 27, 2007 |title=On the 25th anniversary of the Jonestown Massacre and Ryan's assassination }}, 2003, Press release from [[Tom Lantos|Rep. Tom Lantos]], California 12th Congressional District

==External links==
{{Sister project links|author=yes|wikt=no|b=no|v=no|n=no}}
* [http://www.joincalifornia.com/candidate/603 JoinCalifornia], Election History for the State of California
* [http://www.lermanet.com/house/destructive.htm Congressman Leo J Ryan Memorial Page], hosted by [[Arnaldo Lerma]]
* [http://www.fostercity.org/Services/recreation/18.cfm?CFID=914737&CFTOKEN=78289253 Leo J Ryan Memorial park] in [[Foster City, California]]

{{s-start}}
{{s-par|us-ca-hs}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Glenn E. Coolidge]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=Member of the [[California State Assembly|California Assembly]]<br>from the [[California's 27th State Assembly district|27th]] district|years=1963–1973}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Lou Papan]]}}
|-
{{s-par|us-hs}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Pete McCloskey]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=Member of the [[List of United States Representatives from California|U.S. House of Representatives]]<br>from [[California's 11th congressional district]]|years=1973–1978}}
{{s-aft|after=[[William Royer]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Leo Ryan}}
{{Peoples Temple}}
{{United States representatives from California 11-30}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ryan, Leo}}
[[Category:Leo Ryan| ]]
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[[Category:Filmed assassinations]]
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[[Category:1978 murders in Guyana]]