Richard Jewell
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Richard Jewell (born December 17, 1962) was a central figure in the Centennial Olympic Park bombing at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. Jewell, working as a private security guard, discovered a pipe bomb, alerted police, and helped to evacuate the area before it went off. Initially hailed in the media as a hero, Jewell later mistakenly emerged as a suspect, and despite never being charged, was subsequently pilloried in the media before eventually being completely cleared.
His name now evokes false accusations of guilt, especially in the media.[1][2]
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[edit] Bombing
Centennial Park was designed as the "town square" of the Olympics, and thousands of spectators had gathered for a late concert. Sometime after midnight, July 27, 1996, Eric Rudolph, a self-appointed terrorist who would later bomb a gay nightclub and two abortion clinics, planted a green knapsack containing a shrapnel-laden pipe bomb underneath a bench. Jewell, in his capacity as a security guard, discovered the bag and alerted Georgia Bureau of Investigation officers; this discovery was nine minutes before Rudolph called 9-1-1 to deliver a warning. Jewell and other security guards began clearing the immediate area so that a bomb squad could investigate the suspicious package. The bomb exploded 13 minutes later, killing one woman and injuring over one hundred others. A cameraman also died of a heart attack while running to cover the incident.
[edit] Investigation and the media
In early news reports, Jewell was lauded as a hero for helping to evacuate the area after he spotted the suspicious package. Three days later, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution revealed that the FBI was treating him as a possible suspect, based largely on a "lone bomber" criminal profile. For the next several weeks, the news media focused aggressively on him as the presumed culprit, sifting through his life to match a leaked "lone bomber" profile that the FBI had used. Two of the bombing victims filed lawsuits against Jewell on the basis of this reporting. In a reference to the unabomber, Jay Leno called him the "Una-doofus".[3] Though he was never officially charged, the FBI aggressively investigated him in spite of a continuing lack of evidence. They publicly searched his home, questioned his associates, investigated his background, and maintained twenty-four hour surveillance of Jewell. The pressure only began to ease after Jewell's attorneys hired an ex-FBI agent to administer a polygraph, which Jewell reportedly passed. Despite this, in the searches of Jewell's residence, which he shared with his mother, the FBI confiscated his mother's tupperware collection and family photographs, and when returned the tupperware had many broken pieces, and the photographs were ripped apart.
In October 1996, the investigating US Attorney, Kent Alexander, sent Jewell a letter formally clearing him, stating "based on the evidence developed to date ... Richard Jewell is not considered a target of the federal criminal investigation into the bombing on July 27, 1996, at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta".[4]
[edit] Libel cases
After his exoneration, Jewell filed a series of lawsuits against the media outlets which he claimed had libelled him, primarily NBC News and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and insisted on a formal apology from them.
[edit] Richard Jewell v. NBC
Jewell sued NBC News for the statement by Tom Brokaw, "The speculation is that the FBI is close to making the case. They probably have enough to arrest him right now, probably enough to prosecute him, but you always want to have enough to convict him as well. There are still some holes in this case." Even though NBC stood by its story, the network agreed to pay Jewell $500,000.
[edit] Richard Jewell v. New York Post
Jewell sued the New York Post for libel for $15 million over a series of stories and a photograph caption.[1] The newspaper reportedly called Jewell "a Village Rambo" and "a fat, failed former sheriff’s deputy."
[edit] Richard Jewell v. Cox Enterprises (d.b.a. Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
Jewell also sued the Atlanta Journal-Constitution newspaper, which stated Jewell was "an individual with a bizarre employment history and aberrant personality." It also said Jewell "fit the profile of a lone bomber." According to Jewell, the paper's headline, which read FBI suspects hero guard may have planted bomb, "pretty much started the whirlwind".[2]
The newspaper was the only defendant which did not settle with Jewell. As of April 2005, the lawsuit remained pending, after having been considered at one time by the Supreme Court of Georgia, and had become an important part of case law regarding whether journalists could be forced to reveal their sources.
[edit] Aftermath
In July of 1997, U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno, prompted by a reporter's question at her regular weekly news conference, expressed regret over the FBI's leak to the news media that led to the widespread presumption of his guilt, and apologized outright, saying "I'm very sorry it happened. I think we owe him an apology. I regret the leak." [5]
Jewell now works as a police officer in Pendergrass, Georgia.
Jewell appeared in Michael Moore's 1997 film, The Big One. He had a cameo in the September 27, 1997 episode of Saturday Night Live, where he punched Will Ferrell in character as Janet Reno and jokingly fended off suggestions that he was responsible for the deaths of Mother Teresa and Princess Diana.
On April 13, 2005, Jewell's name was fully cleared when Eric Rudolph pleaded guilty to carrying out the bombing attack at the Centennial Olympic Park, as well as three other attacks across the South.
On August 1, 2006, Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue honored Jewell for his rescue efforts during the attack. [6]
[edit] Notes
- ^ Anthrax Investigation (online chat with Marilyn Thompson, Assistant Managing Editor, Investigative). The Washington Post (mirrored by UCLA) (July 3, 2003). Retrieved on September 28, 2006.
- ^ National Journal Global Security Newswire. "Anthrax: FBI Denies Smearing Former U.S. Army Biologist", August 13, 2002. Retrieved on September 28, 2006.
- ^ "60 Minutes II: Falsely Accused", 60 Minutes II, CBS Worldwide, 2002-06-26. Retrieved on August 2, 2006.
- ^ Olympic bombing suspect cleared, threatens to sue (October 26, 1996)
- ^ Reno to Jewell: 'I regret the leak' (July 31, 1997)
- ^ Jewell Finally Honored As A Hero
[edit] References
- Reno to Jewell: 'I regret the leak' (July 31, 1997)
- Olympic bombing suspect cleared, threatens to sue (October 26, 1996)
