In 1996 Richard Jewel discovered a pipe bomb at the Atlanta Olympics.\u00c2\u00a0 He helped clear the area, and was considered a hero until the FBI decided he was a suspect.\u00c2\u00a0 After leaking their suspicions to the media they raided his home and took just about everything that wasn’t locked down, including his mom’s Tupperware bowls.<\/p>\n
Yes, he lived with his mother.\u00c2\u00a0 And he was a security guard.\u00c2\u00a0 He practically had an L tattooed on his forehead and the media had a field day at his expense.\u00c2\u00a0 They blasted the airwaves with his “criminal profile” (i.e. shit they made up) and turned him from a hero to a zero literally overnight.\u00c2\u00a0 The FBI put him under 24 hour surveillance, questioned everyone he knew, and made his life hell until his attorney had him take a polygraph test, which he passed.<\/p>\n
That last sentence is important \u00e2\u20ac\u201c he had an attorney.<\/p>\n
So did Dr. Steven Hatfill, who was able to defend himself when he was accused (but never charged) with being the person behind the 2001 anthrax attacks that happened a few days after 9\/11.\u00c2\u00a0 He was even able to sue the Department of Justice for ruining his life, and, surprisingly, won.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 (Jewell also won lawsuits, but against the media that vilified him, not the government.)<\/p>\n
Both of these people were able to defend themselves because, and only because, they were able to fight back using their civil rights.<\/p>\n