Elected through Terror

Untitled Part 42

During the summer of 1985 the time came when the influx of Rajneesh started coming into the ranch. As per my request we received a daily report on the numbers coming into the ranch.

I did find it interesting when we started receiving the population calls. We were being told there were just a few hundred a day coming onto the ranch, when one day I noticed the Portland Oregonian quoted one of the leaders saying, "we have several thousand visitors coming in daily for the festival." I called the Chief and asked which was correct.

Seems that maybe they were over exaggerating to the media a bit or not giving us the correct information, within the next couple of days I was seeing numbers like 3,200, 2,000, etc. the numbers quickly totaled to the 15,000 – but it never went over it. Later, after the festival, they would claim they had 20,000 and more come to the festival.

I questioned whether there were even 15,000 people in attendance; we had learned long ago that you could not rely on the honesty of the Rajneesh leaders. But I never saw them all in one place, many reporters, however, had freer access to the property and they thought there were about 15,000 people at the festival's peak attendance.

I was impressed with the planning of the festival. There was no expectation of violence or crime from the followers, but they were concerned, to a degree, of non-Rajneesh attending and creating problems. The Police would make any arrests then they would turn the prisoners over to our Office. There were escape routes for the leaders of the commune, but they followed their normal evacuation plans.

The tents and additional buildings went up in just a few days. The followers had housing and transportation provided as part of the package. Followers came from several different countries in Europe, Australia, China, Japan and, of course, both American Continents.

Very few followers arrived by private vehicle; most came by air or train and public busses into the Portland area. The organizers would have Rajneesh (school) busses waiting at the Portland airport and other areas for the followers to catch and then ride out to the ranch.

They would be taken to the processing room, assigned quarters and given their schedules. On the ranch there were several bus stops within a few yards of where the visitors would be staying. Busses came by on a regularly scheduled basis and would pick up the followers to take them to the meetings, recreational areas and activities, and to their meals.

For the most part the festival was uneventful for us. The appointment of a Sergeant as a liaison with the Chief was a big assistance both for them and us.

By having the Sergeant go down each day and make himself available to the Police Department it showed we were willing to work with them, and he did a good job of meeting and talking with them.

It also allowed him to get a feel, each day, as to how things were going. If there was any change in the tension between him and the Chief or other irregularities we hoped it would give us some warning of any upcoming problems.

The one flaw, and it was serious, came about with the death of the Japanese National.