During the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, an explosion devastated Centennial Olympic Park. Amidst the mass panic, only one person died—though over one hundred were injured.
The death toll would've been much higher if it weren't for the heroism of one man: a security guard named Richard Jewell. Discovering a green bag containing a pipe bomb, Jewell alerted police and helped clear out the area shortly before the bomb exploded. For a few days after the bombing, Jewell was hailed as a hero—and rightfully so.
Jewell's fame as a man who risked his life to save others quickly faded, however, after it was revealed by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the FBI was treating Jewell as a suspect in the bombing. For several months, Jewell's life became an American nightmare, as Marie Brenner wrote in her landmark Vanity Fair article “American Nightmare: The Ballad of Richard Jewell.” During this time, Jewell and his mother, Bobi, were under intense scrutiny by both the media and the government.
Read Full Article »