Richard Allensworth Jewell was a police officer and security guard from America who gained media attention for his connection with the Centennial Olympic Park bombing at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. Employed as a security guard for AT&T, Jewell found a backpack with three pipe bombs on the park grounds. He subsequently informed the authorities and played an instrumental role in evacuating the area before the bomb detonated. At first, he was dubbed a hero by the media for saving numerous lives. However, both the authorities and media later regarded him as a suspect. While he never was officially charged, insurmountable damage had already been done to his physical and emotional well-being by the media based on bias. Jewell grew up in Georgia and was married. In October 1996, he was formally absolved of any blame for the bombing. He subsequently filed libel lawsuits against a number of news outlets. In 2006, Governor Sonny Perdue released a public statement, expressing his gratitude on behalf of the people of Georgia towards Jewell for his actions during the Olympics. Jewell passed away a year later at the age of 44.
