On this day, July 30, in 1996, media outlets began reporting Richard Jewell was the focus of a federal investigation into a bombing that had taken place days earlier at the Summer Olympics in Atlanta. He was later cleared of all wrongdoing but claimed his reputation was forever tarnished by the coverage.
Jewell was a security guard who first saw a suspicious backpack in Centennial Olympic Park that later exploded, killing one and injuring 111. He began moving people to safety moments before the blast.
“The heroes are soon forgotten. The villains last a lifetime,” Jewell later told the Associated Press.
Eric Rudolph, who had planted other bombs in the area, eventually pled guilty to the Olympic bombing.
— Jacob Demmitt
