Richard Jewell - Film

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Glocktogo

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So Saturday morning, I went to see the Clint Eastwood Directed film, Richard Jewell. I thought it was pretty good. It did a great job of portraying a man that was falsely accused by the FBI as being the Atlanta Olympic Park bomber and how he was unmercifully hounded by the press.

I remember following the Atlanta bombing coverage since it was only a year after the OKC bombing. I was curious if there was any link to Timothy McVeigh & Terry Nichols, but I never heard anything after they focused their investigation on Richard Jewell.

The film still leaves some serious questions for me. Why was his name leaked to the press when they had ZERO physical evidence linking him to the crime? And later, how were they able to get search warrants for his residence without any physical evidence linking him to the crime?

They leaked the name and got the warrants for the same reason they can spy on an American presidential campaign today. They trade on a mantle of credibility and infallibility, which they've never earned and do not deserve. Compared to other organizations like BATFE, the FBI is a PR machine. They have the ability to spy on Americans domestically that the CIA can't touch, at least not legally. Whereas they used to be an opposition organization to the CIA, over the past few decades they've become quite chummy. Birds of a feather and all that.

In reality we all know how corrupt the FBI is. They're aided and abetted by unscrupulous federal prosecutors who literally cheat to win. Yes there are good FBI agents just as there are good federal prosecutors. But the cream doesn't rise to the top. The ones who rise are the ones who put loyalty to the agency above all else, and that's the crime. :(

I remember it wasn't him, and I always remember his name right off.

I always have to sit and really think to recall the name of the actual bomber.

That's what happens when someone is falsely accused.

I believe this happens more often than anyone realizes. Not all of them are as sensational as this, but I believe it happens a lot.

Sometimes the volunteer firefighter is really the arsonist. Sometimes they aren't. Sometimes the victim of racism is Jussie Smollett. Sometimes it's James Byrd Jr.

Eric Rudolph. People don't remember because it took the FBI 2 years to figure out who did it, and 5 years to catch him, which was actually accomplished by a small town rookie cop on patrol.
 

Woody's Janitor

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I'm from the county, in Georgia, where Richard worked before he left to go work at the Olympics. His last words to an ex co-worker was: I'm going to Atlanta to be a hero. Richard was not well liked and his abuse of power as a deputy sheriff was not good. If I recall correctly, he totaled two county Sheriff patrol cars while showing off and did damage to other agency cars. He also like to pull over College girls when he was a security officer at the college only to harass them. He also seemed to like to take home property of others that was arrested. Richard stopped me one night in the city limits of my home town while he was a Deputy Sheriff. He said he clocked me doing over 15 mph than the speed limit. I knew this was bullsnit and I called him on it. The county Sheriff's cars at the time were not equip with radar and I wasn't speeding. While he went to his patrol car to write me a ticket, the Chief of Police pulled in and stopped. He came directly to me and ask me what was going on. I told him and he just shook his head and said let me take of this crap. I pleaded with him to leave because I had Richard were I wanted him. My buddy, the Chief, said he knew were I was coming from but to let he take care of it. I pleaded some more but lost out. After the Chief of Police left, Richard came up to my truck and presented me with a warning, which I still have. I told him were he could put the warning. He left the scene. A few days later, he was directing traffic in front of a Elementary school and I pulled up to him and cussed him out. No one liked the guy so he left for Atlanta. When he was going through his investigation, if anyone local said anything negative about him, his attorneys threaten to sue them so everyone clammed up. He came back one time to see his old co-workers but no one would talk to him because of the possibility of getting sued so the real story about him was never told.
 

TeleStratMan

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I'm from the county, in Georgia, where Richard worked before he left to go work at the Olympics. His last words to an ex co-worker was: I'm going to Atlanta to be a hero. Richard was not well liked and his abuse of power as a deputy sheriff was not good. If I recall correctly, he totaled two county Sheriff patrol cars while showing off and did damage to other agency cars. He also like to pull over College girls when he was a security officer at the college only to harass them. He also seemed to like to take home property of others that was arrested. Richard stopped me one night in the city limits of my home town while he was a Deputy Sheriff. He said he clocked me doing over 15 mph than the speed limit. I knew this was bullsnit and I called him on it. The county Sheriff's cars at the time were not equip with radar and I wasn't speeding. While he went to his patrol car to write me a ticket, the Chief of Police pulled in and stopped. He came directly to me and ask me what was going on. I told him and he just shook his head and said let me take of this crap. I pleaded with him to leave because I had Richard were I wanted him. My buddy, the Chief, said he knew were I was coming from but to let he take care of it. I pleaded some more but lost out. After the Chief of Police left, Richard came up to my truck and presented me with a warning, which I still have. I told him were he could put the warning. He left the scene. A few days later, he was directing traffic in front of a Elementary school and I pulled up to him and cussed him out. No one liked the guy so he left for Atlanta. When he was going through his investigation, if anyone local said anything negative about him, his attorneys threaten to sue them so everyone clammed up. He came back one time to see his old co-workers but no one would talk to him because of the possibility of getting sued so the real story about him was never told.

Don't care how dirty a cop He was according to you.
NO ONE deserves to be FALSELY ACCUSED of Domestic Terrorism or any other crime for that matter. The Richard Jewell story exposes how corrupt government officials and the media really are and Oswald got screwed over by the very same organizations.
Like RJ or not he was screwed by the SYSTEM.
 
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SoonerP226

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They leaked the name and got the warrants for the same reason they can spy on an American presidential campaign today. They trade on a mantle of credibility and infallibility, which they've never earned and do not deserve.
In the early '90s, a professor at UMKC (IIRC) wrote a book about the FBI's first major investigation, the Union Station Massacre in KC. I don't recall the full title of the book, but its subtitle was "the original sin of J. Edgar Hoover's FBI." It was about how the FBI faked evidence and framed Charles "Pretty Boy" Floyd for the killings, although at least one of them was actually a negligent discharge by a LEO who was using an unfamiliar shotgun and Floyd was nowhere near Kansas City at the time.
 

1stPersonSafety

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In 1999, I attended the same police academy that Richard had attended. He popped in to visit our class during range week. One of the other cadets kept making bomb jokes. Finally, Richard dared the cadet to go touch his (Richard's) car. The cadet sheepishly walked over and touched Richard's car, a gold letter edition 4Runner.

After he touched the car, Richard said, "I bet that's the only car that you have ever touched that Tom Brokaw bought.".

I can't say that Richard was ever described as being a stellar cop, but he didn't deserve what was done to him, and he never recovered.
 

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