Richard Jewell was 34 years old, lived with his mother, and worked as a security guard at Atlanta’s Centennial Park when something caught his attention: a green backpack under a bench, with no owner.
He acted quickly. He alerted the police and began evacuating people. Minutes later, the bomb exploded. It was the most powerful homemade explosive ever recorded by the FBI, and yet only one person died thanks to Jewell’s work.
CNN presented him as a national hero. But 72 hours later, the same newspaper that had applauded him published that the FBI was investigating him as the main suspect. His physical appearance, his solitary life, and his frustrated desire to become a police officer were enough to build a criminal profile without a single piece of real evidence. Three months later, he was cleared. The real culprit, Eric Rudolph, confessed only years later.
