# The investigation of Olympic Park bombing suspect Richard Jewell: Who put on the pressure?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-investigation-of-olympic-park-bombing-suspect-richard-jewell-who-put-on-the-pressure/785142>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [April 24, 2017, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-investigation-of-olympic-park-bombing-suspect-richard-jewell-who-put-on-the-pressure/785142 "2017-04-24T14:37:57Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\
**Post date:** [April 24, 2017, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-investigation-of-olympic-park-bombing-suspect-richard-jewell-who-put-on-the-pressure/785142/1 "2017-04-24T14:37:57Z")

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I just saw the ESPN ‘30 for 30 Shorts’ episode ‘Judging Jewell,’ so all this info can be source to that ep. Anyway. . .

Richard Jewell became the prime suspect in the Atlanta Olympic Park bombing in 1996. He probably would have been investigated anyway as a matter of course, but a tip from a former employer (Ray Cleere of Piedmont College) to the FBI promoted him to Suspect #1.

CNN producer Henry Schuster, one of the interviewees, and Jewell’s attorney both said that pressure was coming ‘from the very top’ to make the case against him. Neither one indicated what ‘the very top’ meant, but I took it to mean the FBI director, or possibly higher.

Is there any record of who was putting on the pressure to really nail him in particular.

Also, some sad prophetic comments from Jewell himself, saying that years from now, no on will remember that he helped hustle people away from the suspicious package, only that he was accused of planting it.

[The journalists shown absolved themselves because they said that they were just reporting the current feeling within the FBI, that Jewell was indeed ‘The Man.’]

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**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\
**Post date:** [April 24, 2017, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-investigation-of-olympic-park-bombing-suspect-richard-jewell-who-put-on-the-pressure/785142/2 "2017-04-24T15:37:18Z")

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One factor was the 1984 Olympics where a police officer planted a bomb to find in order to play the hero. The FBI seemed convinced this same scenario was being played out again.

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**Author:** ![Tranquilis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tranquilis/32/3639_2.png) [@Tranquilis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tranquilis)\
**Post date:** [April 24, 2017, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-investigation-of-olympic-park-bombing-suspect-richard-jewell-who-put-on-the-pressure/785142/3 "2017-04-24T16:16:59Z")

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The bombing was a global black eye for Atlanta and the United States. You wouldn’t even need ‘official’ pressure for authorities to _act_ like there was pressure; just an assumption that your bosses _will_ be landing on you soon, and hard, if you don’t produce results would be enough.

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**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\
**Post date:** [April 24, 2017, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-investigation-of-olympic-park-bombing-suspect-richard-jewell-who-put-on-the-pressure/785142/4 "2017-04-24T18:01:41Z")

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> [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#):
>
> CNN producer Henry Schuster, one of the interviewees, and Jewell’s attorney both said that pressure was coming ‘from the very top’ to make the case against him. Neither one indicated what ‘the very top’ meant, but I took it to mean the FBI director, or possibly higher.
> 
> [The journalists shown absolved themselves because they said that they were just reporting the current feeling within the FBI, that Jewell was indeed ‘The Man.’]

(post shortened)

The term “coming from the very top” means very little by itself. “Somebody said”, “those guys indicated”, “high ranking sources implied” suggests that the reporter doesn’t have an actual name and is too lazy/incompetent/pressed for time to locate one.

“Coming from the very top” certainly sounds impressive. It almost sounds like “those guys” might actually know the facts but have decided to keep those facts from the public.