RIP Richard Jewell

POSTED BY: CrevanReaver
UPDATED: Thursday, August 30, 2007 13:09
VIEWED: 1643
PAGE 1 of 1

CREVANREAVER

Wednesday, August 29, 2007 10:16 PM

The man who was falsely accused of being the 1996 Olympic bomber has passed away.

Quote:
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, 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."

In 1997, U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno expressed regret over the leak regarding Jewell. "I'm very sorry it happened," she told reporters. "I think we owe him an apology."

The Atlanta newspaper never settled a lawsuit Jewell filed against it. The case was still pending as of last year. A lawyer for the newspaper did not immediately return calls seeking comment.

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."

A year ago, Gov. Sonny Perdue commended Jewell at a bombing anniversary event. "This is what I think is the right thing to do," Perdue declared as he handed a certificate to Jewell.

Jewell said: "I never expected this day to ever happen. I'm just glad that it did."

Horrible what happened to his reputation. He was actually a hero, but was branded a potential terrorists by the media. My heart goes out to his family.

AURAPTOR

Wednesday, August 29, 2007 10:51 PM

Kudos to The Atlanta Journal / Constitution. They never caved in and apologized to dragging Jewell's good name through the mud and remain the only defendant to not settle up. Way to go, Cox Enterprises, your tactic worked! You outlasted the man whose life you tried to ruin.

Bravo!

RIP Richard. Regardless of how the AJC tried to ruin your name, everyone knows you were a real hero.

People love a happy ending. So every episode, I will explain once again that I don't like people. And then Mal will shoot someone. Someone we like. And their puppy. - Joss

" They don't like it when you shoot at 'em. I worked that out myself. "

STOWEAWAY

Thursday, August 30, 2007 3:51 AM

I followed this story with great interest at the time. I was standing in the spot where the backpack exploded exactly 24 hours before the actual event. It occurred to me more than once that had it not been for sheer luck, I might have needed assistance or rescuing from someone like Richard Jewell. I think it's really sad how the media "rewarded" him for being a man of action.
Funny how the eventual commendation didn't make nearly as many headlines as the accusations.

PIRATENEWS

Thursday, August 30, 2007 6:29 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by CrevanReaver:
The man who was falsely accused of being the 1996 Olympic bomber has passed away.

Quote:
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, 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."

In 1997, U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno expressed regret over the leak regarding Jewell. "I'm very sorry it happened," she told reporters. "I think we owe him an apology."

The Atlanta newspaper never settled a lawsuit Jewell filed against it. The case was still pending as of last year. A lawyer for the newspaper did not immediately return calls seeking comment.

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."

A year ago, Gov. Sonny Perdue commended Jewell at a bombing anniversary event. "This is what I think is the right thing to do," Perdue declared as he handed a certificate to Jewell.

Jewell said: "I never expected this day to ever happen. I'm just glad that it did."

Horrible what happened to his reputation. He was actually a hero, but was branded a potential terrorists by the media. My heart goes out to his family.

AJC BS:

Janet Reno was a homosexual man with a sex change, who was arrested as a pedophile, just like Senator Larry Craig (interns) and Congressman Barney Frank (pedophile pimp). Pedophilia is a prerequisite for White House and congressional promotions.

Reno et al massacred a million innocent people at Ruby Ridge, Waco church, WTC 1993, OKC and Iraq, preferably by bombings, sometimes with controlled demolitions.

Jewell stumbled upon a govt psyop for Operation Northwoods and Operation Gladio type self-inflicted terror bombings.

As a

HERO

Thursday, August 30, 2007 12:57 PM

I'm waiting a couple days. He might still be alive. The media is not always right when reporting on this guy.

H

JONGSSTRAW

Thursday, August 30, 2007 1:09 PM

Authorities did the best they could. They made a mistake is all.