A Kick to the Family Jewell

July 27, 1996 was meant to be just another day at the Olympic games in Centennial Park. But for the late Richard Jewell it became the end of his normal everyday life.

It was after midnight when Richard, a private security guard, discovered a pipe bomb and alerted the police. It was 1:21am, Richard and other security guards began to clear the park when the bomb went off.

Richard Jewell was considered a hero for his discovery of the bomb and his aid in ushering people to safety. But just a few days after the bombing he became a potential suspect. The media learned of this suspicion and released this publicly making Richard a target. It became the theory that he planted the bomb so that he would be the one to discover it and be a hero.

So is this a believable theory? Yes. It's something that I'm sure has been done in all investigative television shows. But what else does this show us? We're shown that when the media constantly reports on the story of the week and builds it up, people will basically turn against the person being reported on. And like with Jewells, the media came and pulled out all their tricks to make him seem the suspect- they attacked him and his family like vultures. If we are to learn anything from this story it's that you can't judge a book by its cover. I also want to point out that I'm not trying to attack the media or give it a bad name or that it's nothing but bad press, it's just that we need to be careful what sources we allow ourselves to hear and follow.

Richard Jewell died on August 29, 2007 of severe heart and kidney disease at the age of 44. Richard died in his home a police officer in Pendergrass, Georgia. He was a man who was falsely accused and had to endure so much for so long. A man who from the media, received quite a kick to the family Jewell.