Criminology - Introducing: Generation Why: The Olympic Park Bombing

Episode Date: September 12, 2024

Imagine you're walking through the park one day and you see a suspicious backpack sitting underneath a bench. You reported to the police and upon investigating they discover two live pipe bombs inside. You rush to clear the area before they explode saving countless lives and preventing injury. Everyone declares you a hero for a fleeting moment until everything changes. And you're declared the prime suspect. This was the story of security guard Richard Jewell. After the Centennial Park bombing, killed one person and wounded more than 100. Public pressure and a media witch hunt pushed a desperate FBI to find a suspect,

despite obvious holes in the case and unethical tactics used by the FBI to get Jewel to confess, he was found guilty. In the newest season of Generation Why, the Olympic Park bombing, hosts Aaron and Justice, and explore the aftermath of the 1996 Centennial Olympic Park bombing. Listen as they delve into the details of the case, the sway of public opinion, and the identity of the real killer, who after a years-long manhunt,

was apprehended through pure luck and was found to be responsible for other bombings across the United States. I'm about to play a clip from Generation Y, the Olympic Park bombing. Follow Generation Y on the Wonder. app or wherever you get your podcasts. We just went through an Olympics, but the case we're talking about today, it involves the 1996 Olympic Games.

And to give you some idea of what was happening at the time, the first Motorola flip phone is on the market and the beloved forensic files has premiered on television. And on July 19th, 1996 in Atlanta, Georgia, the world celebrated 100 years of the Summer Olympic Games. So a week later on July 26th, we have over 50,000 people gathered for this free concert at Atlanta's Centennial Olympic Park. It's 21 acres. The Olympic Park was open to all visitors to walk through and explore and enjoy the music.

And at around midnight, the band Jack Mack and the heart attack went on break. and this is where things get interesting. Yeah, there was a man named Richard Jewell, who was working security in Olympic Park during the early morning hours of July 27th. Seven college-aged, intoxicated guys wandered over to two park benches near the control tower, five on one bench and two on the other.

They pulled out some Budwisers from a large cooler bag, and that caught the attention of Richard Jewell. He's working security. So he flagged down Tom Davis, who was a Georgia Bureau of Investigations agent, GBI, and asked for assistance. The men left the area, and after they did, Jules looking around and he sees a military-style backpack under one of the benches. Now, of course, this group that catch up to him, they want to know, hey, did you leave this

bag behind? And they're saying, we didn't leave anything behind. Now, Jule and Davis then rule this as a suspicious package because it's been left behind, and the GBI agent, Tom, alerted the bomb security. squad at around 12.45 a.m. Richard Jewell also notified his supervisor, Bob Erring. And there's an interview with Richard who says the GBI officer was looking at this bag and moving his flashlight around. And when he froze, that's when I knew this was a bad thing. And they needed to call in the bomb squad. So they clear a perimeter while the bomb squad

arrives and the bag is inspected. One squad member crawled under the bench, looking inside it with a penlight, and then slowly crawled back. According to this squad member, the bag contained wires and a clock, making a large pipe bomb. A bomb expert opened the knapsack and identified the object inside as a 40-pound pipe bomb filled with nails. So they're evacuating the premises.

Davis and Erring focused on clearing out. out the crowd directly in front of the knapsack. Erring made sure not to use words like bomb because he didn't want to cause any panic. The crowd mostly cooperated and moved back. Richard went up to the NBC Sound Tower and had to tell the tech crew working there to get out. He came back outside to try to evacuate more people, but some refused to comply and stayed at their benches near the tower. They didn't want to lose their seats, I guess. At 1250, 8 a.m., 911 received a call from a telephone booth about five blocks away from the park. A man on the line stated, there is a bomb in Centennial Park. You have 30 minutes. And about 20 minutes later,

as Jack Mack and the heart attack finished their song, I Walk Alone, the bomb exploded. You can listen to Generation Y, the Olympic Park bombing. Add free right now by joining Wondery Plus in the Wondry app, or on Apple Podcasts.