Posted on 03/24/2012 6:06:07 PM PDT by hiho hiho
Richard A. Jewell, whose transformation from heroic security guard to Olympic bombing suspect and back again came to symbolize the excesses of law enforcement and the news media, died Wednesday at his home in Woodbury, Ga. He was 44.
The heavy-set Mr. Jewell, with a country drawl and a deferential manner, became an instant celebrity after a bomb exploded in Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta in the early hours of July 27, 1996,
Only minutes earlier, Mr. Jewell, who was working a temporary job as a guard, had spotted the abandoned green knapsack that contained the bomb, called it to the attention of the police, and started moving visitors away from the area.
But three days later, he found himself identified in an article in The Atlanta Journal as the focus of police attention, leading to several searches of his apartment and surveillance by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and by reporters who set upon him, he would later say, “like piranha on a bleeding cow.”
The investigation by local, state and federal law enforcement officers lasted until late October 1996 and included a number of bungled tactics, including an F.B.I. agent’s effort to question Mr. Jewell on camera under the pretense of making a training film.
In October 1996, when it became obvious that Mr. Jewell had not been involved in the bombing, the Justice Department formally cleared him.
Even after being cleared, Mr. Jewell said he never felt he could outrun his notoriety. He sued several major news media outlets and won settlements from NBC and CNN. His libel case against his primary nemesis, Cox Enterprises, the Atlanta newspaper’s parent company, wound through the courts for a decade without resolution, though much of it was dismissed along the way.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
The eye witness saw and heard that it was Zimmerman screaming for help. Martin's dad said the voice on the 911 call was NOT his son's. How much more do you want?
Oops, beat you by 4 minutes.
He's been slacking off since the 70's.
Hey, you got that leftist dribble down pat org....as usual.
Sorry I am not one of the nuts making this about race, you seem to be. The poster that posted pictures of the wrong person is the one you need to discuss that with.
Yes - I’ll need to remember that when the Duke Lacrosse thread pops up! :)
What about Elvis? Sightings still occur, reportedly.
Hey, better keep your troll job, you’d never make it as a comedian!
This one is usually on the wrong side of any given issue.
Not I, the but the leftist are, and you're slacking.
No doubt.
Don’t know who is Wilkow.
I am not implying that Zimmerman is innocent. I am concerned that the news media is using this story to whip up a riot.
I posted an “old” NY Times article where they admitted malpractice, rushing to judgment — that is the point.
No one hit the dummy bell, so why are you here?
And then the Clinton FBI pinned the Olympic Park Bombing on Eric Robert Rudolph.
Xm 125,
You have rammed it countless times. I have to set it upright for you to ram it again.
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