Richard Jewell - Dead

To second ondeadline and you, as much as I hate to say it, we, as a society, still hasn't learned about how not to rush to judgment.

Eleven years and not one lesson was learned from that case involving Jewell.

Disappointing.

 

AP did a story on him last year, on the 10th anniversary of the bombing. Poor guy got screwed by those cocksuckers at Cox.

 

How?

 

Sad to hear the news. Yes, the media are to blame but understand they were getting their information from the FBI while Eric Rudolph traipsed across the countryside.
This was the event that made me realize that the FBI is more a political tool than a law enforcement agency. When in doubt, or you need to look like you are making progress, blame the security guard.
Richard Jewell, the father of the phrase "person of interest," rest in peace my friend. You were a hero.

 

That's the saddest thing that was largely lost in the story -- not only was he falsely accused, his actions were entirely laudatory if not heroic. He was the first guy to take action when everyone else was still sitting on their ass. And for that he got taken on ride through hell by the FBI and national press.

 

First time I've ever heard cocksuckers and Cox used in the same sentence.

 

I remember after the bombing one moron, might have been Howie Carr, referred to him as the "Uni-Bubba."
RIP. After what you've been through in this life, you've earned a better go-round in the next one.

 

Well, I really hate to wade into this one.

But I was there, so I guess I will.

Richard Jewell was unjustly accused. But ... he brought a great deal of scrutiny onto himself as a result of his actions both before the bombing and after.

I was night manager for the press center, immediately adjacent to the park – bomb debris hit the side of our building – and when the Federal B.I. started asking around, several of the crew members on the back dock told them about the security guard who had been, in their view, acting hinky.

(Some of the folk on the dock side were kids, but there was also active duty military in the mix.)

He was a chatty one, as I recall. I don't think I crossed paths with him, but he was the topic of quite a bit of chatter among the crew – especially after the fact. Then he turns out to be the very guy who found the bomb? If it was an episode of CSI or Law & Order, you'd know it was a classic red herring.

Of course, CSI didn't come on the air for a few years.

Anyway, this rush to judgment – while regrettable and wrong – did not occur in a vacuum.

 

Richard Jewell. RIP. A hero, no doubt. Much more blame to go around than just the media's part.