Richard Jewell, RIP

He saved lives by moving people away from a backpack which actually did turn out to be a bomb. He knew his purpose in life: public safety. He took his job seriously. Richard Jewell was an honorable guy, and a fine American. We are richer because he was our fellow citizen. Salute.

Ace:

I shy away from calling him heroic, but I thought I'd give him props for exactly that which made him suspicious in the eyes of the FBI: the man took his job to protect the public and find evidence of foul play very seriously, and advanced the case, or would have, at least, had the FBI not immediately deemed him their chief suspect and branded him a psycho bomber.

The media was pretty eager to run with that story. "Local security cop finds bomb evidence FBI didn't, ergo he must be a crazed psychopath in on the crime." It's almost as if they don't believe someone could just have a quite-healthy interest in protecting the public from harm, or have difficulty accepting the possibility that someone not formally credentialed by a prestigious institution could have any talents to contribute to society.