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The Olympic Bomber? The Richard Jewell Case — Transcript

by Great Lakes Crime Club · 4,869 words · 755 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

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0:00July 27, 1996 was a night of celebration
0:04at Centennial Olympic Park, the heart of
0:07the Olympic festivities that year.
0:09Thousands of spectators and tourists
0:11milled around the 21 acre town square of
0:14the games, enjoying a late night concert
0:17under the warm summer sky. The
0:20atmosphere was festive and carefree.
0:23Families and young people wandered
0:25between food stalls and souvenir stands
0:28or relaxed on benches despite the hour
0:30being a bit past midnight. On the main
0:33stage, a local band, Jack Mac and the
0:36Heart Attack, was rocking the crowd with
0:39live music. Security personnel were on
0:41duty, but nothing had happened so far to
0:44raise any alarms. But then two things
0:46happened right around the same time.
0:48Local 911 dispatchers received a phone
0:51call from a pay phone two blocks from
0:54the park warning that a bomb would
0:56explode within 30 minutes and that
0:58security officer Richard Juel had
1:01noticed something. It was almost 1:00
1:03a.m. when Jules's attention was drawn to
1:05a group of teenagers drinking near the
1:07large sound and light tower that he was
1:09assigned to guard. They seemed underage
1:12and Juel decided to intervene. He
1:14alerted a Georgia Bureau of
1:16Investigation agent, Tom Davis, who was
1:19also working security that night, and
1:21together they approached the youths. As
1:24the officers arrived, the group of kids
1:26abruptly got up to leave. It was then
1:28that Juel spotted it. A green
1:30military-style backpack left abandoned
1:33on the ground under a bench right by the
1:36base of the tower. Juel called out to
1:38the retreating youngsters, asking if
1:39they had forgotten their bag, but one of
1:41them shook his head. It wasn't theirs.
1:44The teens hurried off into the crowd.
1:46Juel and Agent Davis exchanged a
1:48concerned glance. A lone unclaimed
1:51backpack in a public park full of
1:54people. This was exactly the kind of
1:56thing they didn't want to find,
1:58especially during the Olympics. They
2:00didn't open or touch the bag. Their
2:02protocol was clear. A suspicious package
2:05should only be handled by professionals.
2:07Instead, Juel contacted his supervisor
2:10while Davis placed a call for the park's
2:12bomb squad. Within minutes, two federal
2:15bomb technicians arrived at the bench.
2:17Juel, his supervisor, Bob Aaring, Agent
2:20Davis, and an AT&T security officer
2:23stood by at a safe distance, anxiously
2:26watching. One technician knelt and
2:28carefully lifted a corner of the
2:29backpack. Using a flashlight, he peered
2:32inside and then he froze. Then suddenly
2:35both technicians sprang up and
2:37frantically backpedalled away from the
2:39bench. As they rushed past, one of them
2:42shouted a turse warning. This was no
2:44false alarm. Aring caught up to one of
2:47the bomb texts, pressing for
2:48information. "What have we got?" he
2:50asked. The answer was grim. "It's big.
2:54Real big," the agent replied, visibly
2:57shaken. Aing immediately ordered Juel,
2:59"Evacuate the tower. Get everyone out
3:02now." Juel sprang into action. He dashed
3:04to the base of the sound and light
3:06tower, a 40-foot structure crowded with
3:08technical equipment and 11 people. He
3:11began shouting for them to leave
3:12immediately. Some didn't take him
3:14seriously at first, so Jewel physically
3:17pushed people out of the tower one by
3:19one, determined to clear the potential
3:22blast zone. At the same time, Agent
3:24Davis and Aing fanned out into the
3:27surrounding crowd, urging spectators to
3:29move back without using the word bomb to
3:32avoid a panic. Many nearby visitors were
3:35confused or reluctant. Some lingered,
3:38not quite grasping the danger. Once he
3:41was done at the tower, Juel joined them,
3:43telling people firmly to get back, to
3:46move away from the area. Seconds were
3:48ticking away. There were still clusters
3:50of people on the benches, stubbornly
3:52staying put, and hundreds more milling
3:54around just beyond the immediate area.
3:57The men had managed to hurt a number of
3:59bystanders further from the bench, but
4:01time was almost up. At 1:25 a.m.,
4:05college student Robert G was filming the
4:07band from the crowd when a blue flash
4:09filled his viewfinder. The bomb had
4:12exploded with a thunderous roar. The
4:14blast wave ripped throughout the night.
4:16Juel, Aaring, and Davis, who had been
4:19just yards away, were knocked off their
4:21feet by the concussion. Shrapnel in the
4:24form of nails and screws packed into the
4:26device tore through the air, whizzing as
4:29far as a 100 meters away. For a moment,
4:32a stunned silence fell over the park,
4:35broken only by the eerie whistle of
4:37metal shards flying through the night.
4:39Then people began screaming in the smoky
4:42haze. There were bodies laying on the
4:44ground, injured people crying for help,
4:46and others running away in fear. The
4:48three pipe bombs hidden in the backpack
4:50had killed one woman instantly.
4:5344year-old Alice Hawthorne as she stood
4:55next to her teenage daughter. Over a
4:58hundred other people in the crowd were
5:00wounded. And a Turkish camera operator,
5:02Melly Uziol, suffered a fatal heart
5:05attack while running to film the
5:07aftermath. It was a horrific scene, but
5:10it could have been far worse. Thanks to
5:12the quick response of security and
5:14police, most of the crowd had been moved
5:16back just in time. In the immediate
5:19moments after the blast, Richard Juel
5:21didn't seem to celebrate anything. He
5:23raced to aid the wounded, helping tend
5:25to victims on the ground. Amid flashing
5:28emergency lights and sirens, Juel
5:30continued assisting the injured,
5:32remaining active in the chaotic
5:34aftermath. Actions that were widely
5:36reported on in the hours that followed.
5:39By dawn on July 27, 1996, news of the
5:42bombing broke around the world. There
5:44are several live recordings of the
5:46explosion available here on YouTube,
5:48which I may link below for anyone who
5:50wants to watch them. I haven't decided
5:52yet. In the initial hours and days,
5:55Richard Juel was widely hailed as a
5:57hero. News outlets praised the alert
6:00security guard whose actions had saved
6:02countless Olympic visitors from injury
6:04or death. on television over the next
6:06several days. Juel was a humble figure,
6:09slightly overweight, softspoken with a
6:12polite and differential manner. He told
6:15CNN and the Today show he was just doing
6:17his job and he was grateful that he'd
6:19been in the right place at the right
6:21time. At a press conference, Jules said,
6:24"I'm not a hero. I was just doing my
6:26job." As the Olympic flag lowered to
6:28half mass in the morning, the world
6:30latched onto the feel-good story that it
6:32badly needed during an Olympics marred
6:34by terror. Here was a real life hero, a
6:37downto-earth man who had selflessly
6:39helped others. Within a matter of days,
6:42Jules's face was on every major news
6:44network. He sat next to Katie Kurrick on
6:47national morning television, receiving
6:49congratulatory interviews about that
6:51fateful night. The Centennial Olympic
6:53Park reopened just 3 days after the
6:55bombing, and Juel returned to the scene
6:57modestly, even giving media interviews
7:00from the very spot where the tragedy
7:02occurred. He often reiterated that he
7:04was just doing what any other alert
7:06guard would do. To understand why he
7:08reacted the way he did that night, and
7:10why investigators later took such a hard
7:12look at him, it helps to know a bit more
7:14about Richard Juel's background. I'd
7:17also like to note as an interesting
7:18aside, when I heard about this as a
7:20young child myself, at the time, jewel
7:22cases for CDROMs were quite popular. So,
7:26I can never look at a Jewel case again
7:28without associating it with Richard
7:30Jewel. Richard Allenssworth Juul was a
7:3333-year-old former law enforcement
7:35officer working now as a security guard.
7:37Born in 1962, he grew up in a modest
7:40household and harbored aspirations of
7:43becoming a police officer from a young
7:44age. Those who knew him described him as
7:47a polite young man who would answer most
7:49questions with a respectful yes sir or
7:52yes ma'am. Friends described him as
7:54dutiful and eager to help. Traits that
7:57investigators would later suggest were a
7:59desire for recognition. Juel's path into
8:02law enforcement wasn't smooth. In 1990,
8:05he finally landed a job as a jailer at a
8:07sheriff's department in Georgia. He was
8:10overjoyed to wear a badge and eager to
8:13prove himself. But his zeal to uphold
8:15the law was also what got him into
8:17trouble. While moonlighting as an
8:19apartment complex security guard, he
8:21confronted rowdy guests at the pool
8:23while wearing a hat that identified him
8:25as a sheriff's deputy, which technically
8:27he was, but only really within the
8:29confines of the jail. After one man got
8:32physical with him, Juel subdued him
8:34until the actual police could arrive.
8:37But in doing so, Juel crossed the line
8:40because he held no deputy powers outside
8:42of the jail. So, they ended up charging
8:44him with impersonating an officer.
8:46According to some reports, more than 70
8:49residents of the complex defended him,
8:51saying he was just being a zealous
8:53protector of the community. But the
8:55incident left a mark. Juel pleaded
8:57guilty to a misdemeanor and he kept his
8:59job, but the label overzealous would
9:02follow him, casting a shadow over his
9:04entire law enforcement career. Despite
9:07this setback, though, Richard persisted,
9:10and he was eventually promoted to a
9:11full-time sheriff's deputy, fulfilling a
9:13part of his dream. Colleagues recall him
9:16working tireless hours, sometimes
9:18pulling double shifts even. But another
9:21blow came in 1995 when he was involved
9:23in a car accident with his patrol
9:25cruiser. Juel claimed he was in pursuit
9:28of a suspicious driver when he crashed,
9:30but his superiors doubted the story.
9:33They demoted him back to a jailer, and
9:35feeling humiliated, Juel just instead
9:38resigned. By then, he'd earned a
9:40reputation as someone who took policing
9:43a bit too seriously. Juel next found
9:45work as a security officer at Piedmont
9:48College. In true to form, he threw
9:50himself into the role, too much so in
9:52the eyes of his employers. He was known
9:55to write incident reports on trivial
9:57matters and even issued traffic tickets
9:59off-campus grounds. Students found him
10:02to be macho and easily angered,
10:04describing how he could go from calm to
10:06iate in just seconds. After a year,
10:10Pedmont's administrators asked Juel to
10:12resign. Wary that his aggressive
10:14enforcement of rules was bringing the
10:16college unwanted attention. Juel was
10:19disappointed but not deterred. He still
10:21yearned to serve in security or
10:23policing. In the summer of 96, he got
10:26another chance, a big one. That summer,
10:29Atlanta, Georgia hosted the 1996 Summer
10:32Olympics, and the city's Centennial
10:34Olympic Park became a central gathering
10:36spot for visitors and festivities. Jules
10:39secured a job working at Centennial
10:41Olympic Park, eager to be part of this
10:43global event. He was thrilled. Friends
10:46recall him saying, "If anything happens
10:48during the Olympics, I want to be right
10:50in the middle of it." It was a casual
10:52remark, seemingly from a man just
10:54wanting to do his duty. But after the
10:56bombing, it would become a big deal for
10:58the FBI. For a brief three days in July
11:01of 96, after the bombing, Juel was
11:04living out his dream. After years of
11:06being a faceless security officer, he
11:08was being called a guardian angel of the
11:10Olympics. Georgia's governor even
11:13publicly thanked him. Many imagined that
11:15Juel's future would be bright. Perhaps a
11:18commenation or a new career in law
11:20enforcement awaited this hero guard. But
11:22behind the scenes, investigators began
11:25to see Richard Juel in a new light. That
11:27of the potential bomber. The FBI's
11:30behavioral analysis unit had indeed been
11:32working up a psychological profile of
11:34the likely bomber. And Juel checked
11:36several of these boxes. He was a single
11:39white male in his 30s living with his
11:42mother with a law enforcement background
11:44but a checkered job history. These
11:47characteristics in the FBI's mind
11:49aligned with a so-called hero bomber,
11:52someone who would create danger in order
11:54to save the day. His earlier comments
11:56about wanting to be in the middle of any
11:58action during the Olympics began to look
12:00incredibly suspicious as well. The FBI
12:03started dissecting Jules's life. They
12:05interviewed former employers and
12:07acquaintances. At Pedmont College, a
12:09former supervisor supposedly described
12:12Juel to the FBI in harsh terms, calling
12:14him a badgewearing zealot. Comments like
12:17these reinforce the FBI's suspicion that
12:20Richard Juel had a hero complex.
12:23Historically, there have been cases of
12:24officers or security guards fabricating
12:27heroic rescues, even one at a past
12:29Olympics. In 1984, a Los Angeles police
12:33officer had planted a fake bomb on the
12:35bus that was transporting the Turkish
12:37athletes. He then pretended to have
12:40diffused it in an attempt to look
12:41heroic. So, the FBI's working theory
12:44became that Juel had planted the bomb.
12:46Rando of pay phone.
12:49The snow just fell off my roof.
12:52That's what that was. The FBI's working
12:55theory became that Juel had planted the
12:57bomb, ran to a pay phone two blocks
12:59away, called 911 with a bomb warning,
13:02then returned to discover the bomb and
13:05initiate an evacuation. On July 30th,
13:09FBI agents visited Juel, inviting him to
13:11come to the station by pretending they
13:13needed his help, making a training film,
13:16a how to spot a bomb type video. Partway
13:19through the interview, they read him his
13:21Miranda rights, but some accounts do
13:23suggest that they may have given him the
13:25impression that it was just a part of
13:26the training film rather than an actual
13:28Mirandization.
13:30They would later come to regret this
13:32ill-advised tactic. In a late extra
13:35edition that night, July 30th, the
13:38Atlanta Journal Constitution, the city's
13:40major newspaper, broke a stunning story.
13:43The FBI was investigating Juel as a
13:46possible suspect in the Olympic bombing.
13:49The bold headline struck like a
13:50thunderclap. Rando of Payphone.
13:54FBI suspects hero guard may have planted
13:57bomb. The article written by reporters
14:00Kathy Scrugs and Ron Marts laid out the
14:03basic theory. Quote, "Richard Juel, 33,
14:06a former law enforcement officer, fits
14:09the profile of the lone bomber. This
14:11profile generally includes a frustrated
14:14white man who is a former police
14:15officer, member of the military, or a
14:18police wannabe who seeks to become a
14:20hero." End quote. After that story hit
14:22the streets, journalists swarmed the
14:24apartment complex where Juel lived.
14:26Cameras trained on the door to catch any
14:28sight of him. TV networks interrupted
14:31programming with a breaking news that
14:33the Olympic hero was now a suspect. It
14:36was a media circus of astonishing speed
14:38and ferocity. TV reporters and pundits
14:41drudged up every aspect of Jules's past,
14:44spinning even benign details into a
14:47suspicious light. An FBI source quoted
14:50news reports painted Juel as a lone wolf
14:52with a Rambo mentality. And before we
14:55get to the next part of the story, if
14:57you haven't already, please consider
14:58subscribing and liking this video to
15:00help our documentaries reach wider
15:02audiences and to keep making them for
15:04you. NBC's famed anchor Tom Brooff went
15:08on air and told viewers, quote, "The
15:11speculation is that the FBI is close to
15:13making the case. They probably have
15:15enough to arrest him right now, probably
15:18enough to prosecute him." End quote.
15:20Brokaw did add that there were still
15:22some holes in the case, but essentially
15:24a respected news voice had all but
15:26declared Juel guilty on national TV
15:29despite no official charges. Other
15:32commenters were less restrained. Jay
15:35Leno joked on the Tonight's show,
15:36calling Juel the Unidoffus, a riff on
15:39the Uni Bomber case. On July 31st,
15:42hordes of reporters watched from outside
15:44as federal agents spent hours combing
15:47through the small apartment that Jules
15:48shared with his mother, Barbara. Agents
15:50carried out boxes of personal
15:52belongings, including Tupperware
15:54containers and Disney movie tapes, as if
15:56any mundane item could be a clue. Even
15:59his 1984 Toyota pickup was towed away
16:02for a deeper inspection. Juel, who spent
16:04most of the day sitting on the steps
16:06outside in full view of the cameras,
16:08seemed appalled to be labeled a suspect.
16:11But despite that, he remained very
16:13accommodating to the agents. Later
16:15articles quoted him as saying, "Take
16:17everything. Take the carpet. I am law
16:19enforcement. I'm just like you. Guys,
16:22take whatever you're going to take
16:23because it's going to prove that I
16:25didn't do anything." On August 3rd,
16:27reporters were still outside when
16:29Jules's lawyer, Watson Bryan, pulled up.
16:32The media shouted questions at him about
16:34the case. He declined to answer. He was
16:37only there to support Juel because
16:38another search warrant was issued. This
16:41time, the FBI wanted Jules's hair
16:42samples, fingerprints, handprints, and a
16:46voice recording that could be compared
16:48to the bomb threat phone call recording.
16:50After waiting for hours, finally around
16:53300 p.m., five agents showed up to
16:55collect the evidence, further exciting
16:58the crowds of reporters, all of whom
17:00were probably hoping to catch an arrest
17:02on camera. As the frenzy peaked, the
17:05actual criminal case against Richard
17:07Juel remained quite thin. In truth, the
17:10FBI had uncovered no direct evidence
17:12tying Juel to the bombing, only their
17:14profile and circumstantial suspicions.
17:17And soon, key pieces of hard evidence
17:19began to emerge that undermined the
17:21FBI's theory entirely. Firstly, the
17:24timing of the 911 warning call didn't
17:26align with Jules's known actions in the
17:28park. An anonymous male caller had
17:31telephoned 911 sometime between 12:57 to
17:3410:07 a.m. on July 27th. I found
17:38different accounts that gave conflicting
17:39times and said in a calm voice, "There
17:42is a bomb in Centennial Park. You have
17:4530 minutes. Investigators initially
17:47speculated that Juel could have left his
17:49post, made that call from a public pay
17:52phone, and returned to find the bomb.
17:54But analysis proved this scenario was
17:56virtually impossible. The Bank of
17:58Payones was about two blocks from Jules
18:00station at the tower, roughly a 5 to 8
18:03minute walk. Juel was seen by multiple
18:06people during that time frame. At 1257,
18:09Juel was standing with agent Tom Davis
18:11as Davis radioed the bomb squad. He
18:13remained with Davis until directed to
18:15start evacuating, which would have been
18:17after the call went through, firmly
18:19establishing Jules's presence at the
18:21scene when the call was placed. Dozens
18:24of eyewitnesses confirmed that Juel
18:25never disappeared from the area before
18:27the explosion. Therefore, Richard Juel
18:30simply could not have been the 911
18:33caller. And second, the voice on the 911
18:35tape didn't even match Juel at all. The
18:38caller spoke with no distinguishable
18:40accent. Juel, by contrast, had a
18:42noticeable southern slow draw in his
18:44speech. Anyone who heard Juel talk, and
18:47many investigators had, could
18:49immediately tell he didn't fit the voice
18:51profile of that calm, flat collar. This
18:54discrepancy further eroded the case
18:56against him. And there are other
18:57factors, too. The FBI lab examined
19:00physical evidence from the bomb scene
19:02and Jules's belongings, noting
19:04concretely that nothing linked to him.
19:06No blast residue, no connection to bomb-
19:09makingaking materials, and no witnesses
19:11saw him plant the bag. And the more they
19:13dug, the more Jules's actions made sense
19:16only in the context of an innocent man
19:19just doing his job. For example, the
19:21media had breathlessly reported that
19:23Juel sought publicity and loved being
19:25hailed a hero, citing that he approached
19:28news outlets for interviews. But in
19:30reality, Juel never directly called
19:32newspapers to promote himself. Not once.
19:35A media relations officer later
19:37confirmed that he, not Juul, had reached
19:39out to offer Jules's availability to one
19:41local paper as a courtesy. Juel had been
19:44cooperative, but hardly glory seeking.
19:47He was quiet and humble in his
19:48interviews. So, one by one, the pillars
19:51of the FBI's suspicions were crumbling
19:53under scrutiny. By midepptember 1996,
19:56the investigative team had to face a
19:58sobering truth. They had the wrong man.
20:01and many of their actions toward him
20:03were later determined to be at the very
20:05least bad practices. Remember how they
20:08failed to clearly state that they were
20:10reading him his Miranda rightites? Well,
20:12that was just one example of many of
20:14those mistakes. So, while the
20:15authorities began looking elsewhere to
20:17the media and the public, Juel was still
20:20suspect number one. For 88 days, from
20:23late July until October 96, Juel lived
20:26under continuous, crushing scrutiny. He
20:29couldn't step outside without having
20:31cameras in his face. News vans parked on
20:34the street at all hours. His phone rang
20:36incessantly with prank calls and taunts.
20:39Someone even leaked his mother's home
20:41phone number online, resulting in
20:43roughly a thousand calls a day until
20:45they finally replaced it with an
20:47unlisted number. Barbara Juel, his
20:49mother, was terrified and devastated.
20:52Her son, who she knew to be gentle and
20:54beautiful, was being portrayed as a
20:56terrorist. Finally, on October 26th,
20:59Richard's lawyers received a formal
21:01communication that ended the nightmare.
21:03The US attorney in Atlanta, Kent
21:05Alexander, sent a letter stating
21:07officially that he was no longer a
21:09target of the bombing investigation. In
21:12careful legal language, the letter
21:14explained that based on the evidence
21:15gathered, Juel was not considered a
21:17target of the probe into the July 27
21:20bombing. In essence, the government was
21:22acknowledging that it had no case
21:23against him. The letter notably did not
21:26apologize or explicitly declare him
21:28innocent. It simply announced that he
21:31was not a suspect based on available
21:33evidence. But nonetheless, this was the
21:35clearance that Juel had desperately
21:37awaited. That same day, the Department
21:39of Justice issued an unusual public
21:42statement. Richard Juel had endured
21:44intense publicity that was neither
21:46sought by investigators nor helpful to
21:48the case. The statement reminded the
21:50public that Juel had never been charged
21:52with any crime and noted that all
21:55deceased property from his home was
21:57being returned. Subtly, federal
21:59officials were conceding that they had
22:01been wrong. And it's exceedingly rare
22:03for the Justice Department to make such
22:05public remarks about not charging
22:07someone. So, the fact that they did
22:09spoke volumes about how badly Jules's
22:12case had been mishandled, even if they
22:14didn't directly admit it at the time.
22:16With the investigation's focus finally
22:18lifted, Richard Juul was free, at least
22:21officially. But returning to normal life
22:24after being branded a terrorist proved
22:26immensely difficult. The cloud of
22:29suspicion took much longer than 88 days
22:31to dissipate in the mind of the public.
22:34And for Richard himself, there was no
22:36simple way to rewind to the days before
22:38July 30th. For Richard, a man who
22:41devoted himself to law enforcement
22:43ideals. The idea that law officers had
22:46believed him capable of mass murder was
22:48soul crushing. 88 Days of Hell is how
22:51Juel later described that period. The
22:54joyful, eager to help security guard
22:56became wary and paranoid. According to
22:59his family, in public, he would
23:01constantly watch people's hands and
23:02faces, scanning for threats or ill
23:05intent. Driving down the road, he'd
23:07check the rear view mirror frequently to
23:09see if anybody was following him.
23:11Nightmares plagued him for years. He
23:13would wake up in cold sweats, reliving
23:15scenes of being chased or accused. These
23:18symptoms of clear post-traumatic stress
23:20disorder lingered for a long time. In an
23:24effort to set the record straight and
23:25hold accountable those who'd smeared
23:27him, Juel embarked on a series of liel
23:30lawsuits against major media
23:32organizations and individuals who had
23:34defamed him during the frenzy. He filed
23:37suits against the Atlanta Journal
23:38Constitution, NBC News, CNN, the New
23:42York Post, and even Piedmont College and
23:45its former president, who had supplied
23:47unflattering comments to investigators.
23:50Juul's contention was that these parties
23:52had rushed to label him a murderer
23:54without evidence, devastating his life
23:57and demeaning his character. Some of
23:59these cases yielded a measure of
24:00vindication and monetary settlements.
24:03NBC, for instance, agreed to pay Juul a
24:06reported $500,000
24:08to settle a defamation claim after Tom
24:10Brokaw's onair insinuation of his guilt.
24:13CNN likewise settled with Juul for an
24:16undisclosed sum, though it maintained
24:18that its reporting had been fair. The
24:20New York Post settled after Juul sued it
24:22for $15 million over a series of
24:24sensational articles and even a cartoon
24:27that portrayed him as an aberrant likely
24:29bomber. And Jay Leno publicly apologized
24:32for his comments. At a press conference
24:35in July of 97, US Attorney General Janet
24:38Reno, the nation's top law enforcement
24:40official, finally addressed Jules's
24:42traumatic experience. "I'm very sorry it
24:45happened," Reno said of the ordeal that
24:47Juel endured. "I think we owe him an
24:49apology. I regret the leak." Coming from
24:52the Attorney General, that was a
24:54powerful acknowledgement that Richard
24:55Juel had been wronged by the very system
24:58sworn to protect the innocent. The
25:00Atlanta Journal Constitution, whose
25:02early reporting had started the whole
25:04media storm, fought Jules's lawsuit
25:06fiercely and never settled. But
25:08ultimately, the Georgia Court of Appeals
25:10decided in 2011 that the newspapers
25:12articles were essentially true at the
25:14time they were published. Therefore, the
25:16court concluded the stories could not be
25:18considered liable. Beyond the courtroom,
25:21Richard sought to reclaim a sense of
25:23normaly and purpose. Remarkably, despite
25:26everything, he remained devoted to law
25:28enforcement. In the late 90s and early
25:312000s, he held various jobs in policing.
25:34He worked as an officer in a small
25:36Georgia town and later as a sheriff's
25:38deputy in another county. For a man
25:40who'd been portrayed as a pariah, it was
25:43a personal victory that he was able to
25:44wear a badge again. But surely, the past
25:48was never far from his mind. Indeed,
25:50every year on the July 27th anniversary
25:53of the bombing, Richard Juel performed a
25:55quiet, poignant ritual. He would go to
25:57Centennial Olympic Park to the very spot
26:00where victim Alice Hawthorne had lost
26:02her life and place a single rose in her
26:04memory. No cameras or fanfare, just
26:07Richard, honoring the life that was
26:09taken and likely reflecting on the day
26:11that had changed his own life forever.
26:14In 2006, a decade after the bombing, the
26:16state of Georgia finally gave Richard
26:18Juel the public honor he deserved.
26:21Georgia's governor at the time, Sunonny
26:22Purdue, invited Juel to the capital and
26:25formally thanked him for saving lives
26:27during the Olympic bombing. Purdue
26:29declared that Richard deserves to be
26:31remembered as a hero. End quote. It was
26:34a brief ceremony, but it moved Juel
26:36deeply according to his family. But
26:38tragically, Richard Juel's story didn't
26:41continue for many more years. In August
26:432007, Richard died at the age of 44 from
26:47complications of heart disease and
26:49diabetes. But the toll of those 88 days,
26:53the paranoia, nightmares, and heartbreak
26:56that followed certainly left their scars
26:58on Richard's mind and body. When Clint
27:01Eastwood released a feature film about
27:03Richard in 2019, his widow Dana remarked
27:07that watching that film made the family
27:09both laugh and cry because it brought
27:12back the pain of his loss but validated
27:15his true heroism. The same year, the
27:18city of Atlanta unveiled a memorial
27:20plaque in Centennial Olympic Park. It
27:23reads in part, quote, Mr. Jewels
27:26awareness, vigilance, and heroic actions
27:29combined with many other security
27:31personnel and law enforcement officers
27:34prevented mass injury and death to the
27:36thousands present at the park that
27:39evening." End quote. Richard Jules's
27:41name is now often brought up as a
27:43cautionary tale in both criminal justice
27:45and journalism. His case forced a lot of
27:48newsrooms to take a hard look at the
27:50rush to judgment and it exposed just how
27:53flawed criminal policing can be when
27:55instinct gets confused with evidence.
27:58More importantly, it humanized the idea
28:00of innocent until proven guilty, a
28:02principle that in his case was
28:04completely ignored. When Juel testified
28:07before Congress in 1997, he pushed for
28:10an independent review of the FBI's
28:12tactics so that no one else would go
28:14through what he did. Eventually, three
28:17FBI agents were disciplined for their
28:19roles in the investigation. In the end,
28:22this story is a reminder of how fragile
28:24someone's reputation can be and why it's
28:27so important for both authorities and
28:29the media to handle every case with care
28:32and fairness. That's something we take
28:34seriously on this channel. You've
28:36probably noticed that we usually focus
28:38on cases that have already been decided
28:40in court. That's intentional. We never
28:42want to be part of destroying an
28:44innocent person's life. When we do cover
28:46unsolved cases, we make an effort to
28:48stay neutral, especially when discussing
28:50strong suspects who haven't been
28:52convicted. Often, those individuals are
28:54already deceased or serving time for
28:56other confirmed crimes like Silus Jane
28:59or some of the suspects in the Jack the
29:01Stripper case, both of which we covered
29:03on this channel. Of course, we also know
29:05that sometimes the courts get it wrong,
29:07too, and innocent people are convicted.
29:09That's a type of story that we will
29:11probably explore in an upcoming video,
29:13but for now, there's still one large
29:15loose end in the Centennial Park bombing
29:18case. If Richard didn't plant the bomb,
29:21then who did? Well, we'll dive into that
29:24full story next week. If you believe
29:26we've earned it, please consider liking,
29:28subscribing, and sharing this content
29:30with your friends. As a small channel,
29:32viewers like you truly do go a massive
29:35way in helping us get discovered and to
29:37be able to keep making videos just like
29:39this one. Thank you. I'll see you in the
29:42next

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