08 April 2005

Searching for Richard Jewel

    All I did was my job.
      Richard Jewel
Today it was reported that Eric Rudolph would plead guilty to four bombings, including the blast at the 1996 Summer Olympics. I had forgotten that the bombing occurred on my birthday.

The story left me thinking about Richard Jewel. You might remember him. He was the security guard that spotted the bomb, and was credited with saving many lives by warning people away. However, when he should have been lauded as a hero, he became the chief suspect. FBI leaks and the resulting media coverage identified him as the bomber.

He was eventually exonerated, but it would be hard for him to completely shake off the gung-ho cop wannabee image painted by the media. When he finally broke his public silence, he gave this speech.

I wonder what happened to him. I googled him, but found nothing recent. I hope he is doing well. He deserves to be.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi, I just decided to do some research on Jewel myself and I ran accross this. I don't know that you even look at this site anymore, but I assure you that Jewel is doing just fine now. He is a police officer and a very nice person despite what the media says. I see him often. As a matter of face I got pulled over by him one day lol. Just wanted to let ya know.

Anonymous said...

Read this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Jewell and, if you're at all interested, check out http://advancedsecurityinstitute.com and go to "Unsung Heroes." alas, Richard Jewell is not dong just fine now. He passed away 8/29/7. Then again, maybe he really is doing just fine now.