The People's Redemption Council was a military regime that governed Liberia during the early 1980s. It was established after the military coup of April 12, 1980, in which Samuel Doe, who served as chairman of the Council, seized power. Apart from Doe, the Council consisted of 17 soldiers. It marked the first time that Liberia was governed by members of the native African majority and not the Americo-Liberian elite. Mass executions of members of the former government of William R. Tolbert, Jr. followed.