Olympic Bomb

Eric Robert Rudolph

July 27, 1996: A pipe bomb explodes. Olympic Games are awarded to cities around the world. There are summer and winter games to be hosted. The 1996 Summer Olympics were held in Atlanta, Georgia. Part of the city’s preparations for the event was to build the complex needed to host the world’s best athletes. Part of the building included the Centennial Olympic Park as the “town square” of the Olympics. The square was used as a meeting place and as a venue for entertainment of the crowds not actively watching sporting events.

On this night, Jack Mack and the Heart Attack were playing for thousands of spectators. At some point after midnight, a US military ALICE pack or field pack was planted under a bench near the sound tower. It contained three pipe bombs surrounded by nails and with a steel plate as a directional device. The bombs were made of nitroglycerine dynamite and used an alarm clock and Rubbermaid containers. The bag was found by security guard Richard Jewell who immediately alerted others. The area was being cleared when the bomb exploded at 1:20 AM. Fortunately, it had tipped over and there was less damage than might have occurred. Alice Hawthorne was killed when she was struck in the head with a nail. Turkish cameraman Melih Uzonyol died of a heart attack as he raced toward the scene to report on it.

President Bill Clinton claimed it was an “evil act of terror” and vowed to catch the perpetrator. Jewell was named as a person of interest and was tried and found guilty in the press. He was harassed and followed about during his daily life. He was also investigated by the FBI who found him innocent. He was eventually exonerated and sued NBC News, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and Piedmont College (his former employer). He won his cases but saw little financial gain with most of the money going to lawyers or taxes.

There were no further suspects. In the following year, two more bombings of a similar nature took place around Atlanta. One was an abortion clinic and the second was a lesbian nightclub. When another abortion clinic was bombed, critical evidence came to light. Finally Eric Robert Rudolph was named as a suspect, but he had fled to the Appalachian Mountains. On May 5, 1998 he was listed as one of America’s ten most wanted. He was finally arrested on May 31, 2003 in Murphy, North Carolina. On April 8, 2005 he pled guilty to all four bombings.

We will spare no effort to find out who was responsible for this murderous act. We will track them down. We will bring them to justice. – Bill Clinton

In the summer of 1996, the world converged upon Atlanta for the Olympic Games. Under the protection and auspices of the regime in Washington millions of people came to celebrate the ideals of global socialism. Multinational corporations spent billions of dollars, and Washington organized an army of security to protect these best of all games. – Eric Robert Rudolph

Even though the conception and purpose of the so-called Olympic movement is to promote the values of global socialism, as perfectly expressed in the song Imagine by John Lennon, which was the theme of the 1996 Games even though the purpose of the Olympics is to promote these despicable ideals, the purpose of the attack on July 27 was to confound, anger and embarrass the Washington government in the eyes of the world for its abominable sanctioning of abortion on demand. . – Eric Robert Rudolph

The plan was to force the cancellation of the Games, or at least create a state of insecurity to empty the streets around the venues and thereby eat into the vast amounts of money invested. . – Eric Robert Rudolph

Also on this day:

What’s up Doc? – In 1940, Bugs Bunny made it to the silver screen.
Reign of Terror – In 1794, Maximilien Robespierre was arrested.
Smoke Gets in Your Eyes – In 1586, Sir Walter Raleigh brings tobacco to England.