When Big Government Conspires With Big Media Against One Man
For Richard Jewell, his temporary job as a security guard at the 1996 Olympic games in Atlanta was an opportunity to obtain another position in law enforcement. In a few short days, the excitement of the festivities in Centennial Olympic Park would give way to the prospect of a life as an unemployed bachelor, forced to move back in with his mother.
Jewell admired law enforcement, and as he watched the crowd watching the rhythm and blues band Jack Mack and the Heart Attack, he hoped the contacts he was making with some of the scores of law-enforcement officers during the concerts held in conjunction with the Olympic contests would secure him another job in the field. He used his position near the tower built for AT&T and NBC to hand out cold soft drinks and water to officers on duty.
A conscientious employee, he regularly arrived up to 30 minutes early for his 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. shift, carefully observing the spectators and even looking under benches for anything suspicious. During his previous employment as a police officer and a deputy sheriff, Jewell had taken various law-enforcement courses, including education about explosives. From that training, he knew that the crowds in the park (numbering as high as 65,000 for a Kenny Rogers concert) could be at risk by someone with the evil intent to set off a bomb.
JBS Member or ShopJBS.org Customer?
Sign in with your ShopJBS.org account username and password or use that login to subscribe.
Subscribe Now
- 24 Issues Per Year
- Digital Edition Access
- Exclusive Subscriber Content
- Audio provided for all articles
- Unlimited access to past issues
- Cancel anytime.
- Renews automatically
Subscribe Now
- 24 Issues Per Year
- Print edition delivery (USA)
*Available Outside USA - Digital Edition Access
- Exclusive Subscriber Content
- Audio provided for all articles
- Unlimited access to past issues
- Cancel anytime.
- Renews automatically