This man was greatly wronged (Richard Jewel dies)
Mr. Jewel was greatly wronged and died way too young.
Richard Jewell, Wrongly Accused in Atlanta Olympics Bombing, Dead at 44
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
ATLANTA -
Richard Jewell, the former security guard who was erroneously linked to the 1996 Olympic bombing, died Wednesday, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said.
Jewell, 44, was found dead in his west Georgia home, GBI spokesman John Bankhead said.
"There's no suspicion whatsoever of any type of foul play. He had been at home sick since the end of February with kidney problems," said Meriwether County Coroner Johnny Worley.
The GBI planned to do an autopsy Thursday, Bankhead said.
Lin Wood, Jewell's longtime attorney, said in an e-mail to The Associated Press that he was "devastated" by the news. He declined to comment further, saying he was in New York trying to get back to Atlanta.
Jewell was initially hailed as a hero for spotting a suspicious backpack in a park and moving people out of harm's way just before a bomb exploded during a concert at the Atlanta Summer Olympics.
The blast killed one and injured 111 others.
Three days after the bombing, an unattributed report in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution described him as "the focus" of the investigation.
Other media, to varying degrees, also linked Jewell to the investigation. He was never arrested or charged, although he was questioned and was a subject of search warrants.
As recently as last year, Jewell was working as a sheriff's deputy.
Eighty-eight days after the initial news report, then-U.S. Attorney Kent Alexander issued a statement saying Jewell "is not a target" of the bombing investigation and that the "unusual and intense publicity" surrounding him was "neither designed nor desired by the FBI, and in fact interfered with the investigation."
Eventually, the bomber turned out to be anti-government extremist Eric Rudolph, who also planted three other bombs in the Atlanta area and in Birmingham, Ala. Those explosives killed a police officer, maimed a nurse and injured several other people.
Rudolph was captured after spending five years hiding out in the mountains of western North Carolina. He pleaded guilty to all four bombings last year and is serving life in prison.
Jewell told the AP last year that Rudolph's conviction helped, but he believed some people still remember him as a suspect rather than for the two days in which he was praised as a hero.
"For that two days, my mother had a great deal of pride in me - that I had done something good and that she was my mother, and that was taken away from her," Jewell said around the time of the 10th anniversary of the bombing. "She'll never get that back, and there's no way I can give that back to her."
Richard Jewell, Wrongly Accused in Atlanta Olympics Bombing, Dead at 44
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
ATLANTA -
Richard Jewell, the former security guard who was erroneously linked to the 1996 Olympic bombing, died Wednesday, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said.
Jewell, 44, was found dead in his west Georgia home, GBI spokesman John Bankhead said.
"There's no suspicion whatsoever of any type of foul play. He had been at home sick since the end of February with kidney problems," said Meriwether County Coroner Johnny Worley.
The GBI planned to do an autopsy Thursday, Bankhead said.
Lin Wood, Jewell's longtime attorney, said in an e-mail to The Associated Press that he was "devastated" by the news. He declined to comment further, saying he was in New York trying to get back to Atlanta.
Jewell was initially hailed as a hero for spotting a suspicious backpack in a park and moving people out of harm's way just before a bomb exploded during a concert at the Atlanta Summer Olympics.
The blast killed one and injured 111 others.
Three days after the bombing, an unattributed report in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution described him as "the focus" of the investigation.
Other media, to varying degrees, also linked Jewell to the investigation. He was never arrested or charged, although he was questioned and was a subject of search warrants.
As recently as last year, Jewell was working as a sheriff's deputy.
Eighty-eight days after the initial news report, then-U.S. Attorney Kent Alexander issued a statement saying Jewell "is not a target" of the bombing investigation and that the "unusual and intense publicity" surrounding him was "neither designed nor desired by the FBI, and in fact interfered with the investigation."
Eventually, the bomber turned out to be anti-government extremist Eric Rudolph, who also planted three other bombs in the Atlanta area and in Birmingham, Ala. Those explosives killed a police officer, maimed a nurse and injured several other people.
Rudolph was captured after spending five years hiding out in the mountains of western North Carolina. He pleaded guilty to all four bombings last year and is serving life in prison.
Jewell told the AP last year that Rudolph's conviction helped, but he believed some people still remember him as a suspect rather than for the two days in which he was praised as a hero.
"For that two days, my mother had a great deal of pride in me - that I had done something good and that she was my mother, and that was taken away from her," Jewell said around the time of the 10th anniversary of the bombing. "She'll never get that back, and there's no way I can give that back to her."
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Sad news. And you're right...he was greatly wronged in the Olympic bombing. RIP Mr. Jewell... 0 -
greatly wronged by whom ? he was investigated and then cleared. the public would have been GREATLY wronged if he hadnt been investigated.
same situation as the two arab muslims men the FBI is looking for on the seattle ferry picture.0 -
That stupid "person of interest" stuff they do nowadays labels a lot of innocent people for the rest of their lives. Just like the guy the FBI hounded over the Anthrax attacks. Not one bit of hard evidence and that guy's life is ruined. 0 -
He was wronged by a news media that labeled him as a suspect and hounded him relentlessly until the FBI had to formally announce he was not a suspect. Nobody under investigation deserves the unfair publicity he got. The media treated him like he was convicted when he was merely one of many people being checked out. 0 -
THE SKY IS FALLING! THE SKY IS FALLING! SAXON PIG AND I AGREE ON SOMETHING! PROTECY YOUR WIFE AND CHILDREN! THE END IS NEAR!![:D] 0 -
He was wronged by a news media that labeled him as a suspect and hounded him relentlessly until the FBI had to formally announce he was not a suspect. Nobody under investigation deserves the unfair publicity he got. The media treated him like he was convicted when he was merely one of many people being checked out.
You're damn right, SP. And any time any of you Patriot Act lovers thinks that the government can be trusted snooping through your mail and computer records, just remember what happened to Richard Jewel. In fact, think about this: what if Richard Jewel HADN'T gotten the massive amount of media attention? The FBI would have ruined his life, dragged his name through the mud, poisoned his ability to get a job, and nobody would have forced the FBI to finally admit that it had wronged the man. Some police officers, federal, state, and local, will always abuse the process to try to get what they want. And the more power given to them, the more abusing they will do.0 -
quote:Originally posted by iluvguns
THE SKY IS FALLING! THE SKY IS FALLING! SAXON PIG AND I AGREE ON SOMETHING! PROTECY YOUR WIFE AND CHILDREN! THE END IS NEAR!![:D]
Same for me,.........a first!0 -
quote:Originally posted by SaxonPig
He was wronged by a news media that labeled him as a suspect and hounded him relentlessly until the FBI had to formally announce he was not a suspect. Nobody under investigation deserves the unfair publicity he got. The media treated him like he was convicted when he was merely one of many people being checked out.
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The goverment cleared him, the media kept him as suspect
Don0
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