WASHINGTON — Former Olympic canoeist David Hearn has been indicted by a grand jury for allegedly damaging the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool last month.
Hearn, 67, is facing a felony charge for destruction of property, which carries up to 10 years behind bars, for allegedly tearing up roughly two square feet of sealant from the bottom of the pool, DC US Attorney Jeanine Pirro announced.
The gold-winning former Olympic athlete was arrested on June 19 amid the Trump administration’s crackdown on alleged vandalism at the Reflecting Pool, which has been plagued by a nasty algae bloom and peeling sealant despite more than $16 million in renovations.
“The evidence will prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Hearn willfully destroyed property at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool,” Pirro declared. “This was a deliberate act.”
Hearn told the Washington Post that he was arrested after picking up a piece of the pool’s liner that was floating in the water, but denied destroying the sealant.
“I didn’t vandalize anything,” claimed Hearn, who competed at the Summer Games for the US in 1992, 1996 and 2000. “I didn’t destroy or break or peel anything. By the time I realized what was going on, I was being put in handcuffs.”
Pirro stressed that Hearn admitted to putting his hands in the water and claimed that the feds have witnesses attesting that he tore up some of the sealant. She estimated he did over $1,000 worth of damage to federal property and that the feds believe he did it just with his bare hands.
“Our evidence further shows that the National Park Service employees observed Hearn actually forcefully and violently pulling up and removing the bottom liner with both hands,” she said. “According to witnesses, Hearn damaged approximately two square feet of sealant from the bottom of the pool.”
“A Parks employee actually told Hearn to stop,” she went on. “Hearn reacted by shouting at that Park’s employee, saying that she ‘cared too much’ about the Reflecting Pool. And why did she ‘even care’ since it wasn’t her pool?”
Pirro underscored that many National Park Service employees were outraged by the vandalism at the Reflecting Pool because they have pride in the country.
The Reflecting Pool had been one of President Trump’s most vaunted renovation projects in DC. Having long been plagued by leaks and algae, the Trump administration drained the pool in April and began coating it with “American flag blue” sealant, fixing the joints in the concrete slabs, and installing a new $1.7 million ozone-based nanobubbler system to combat algae.
But upon reopening last month, a massive algae bloom quickly swept the iconic Reflecting Pool, and observers saw pieces of the sealant peel off. That gave Trump’s critics fodder and attracted national attention.
Trump has blamed the algae problems and sealant peeling issues on vandals. Pirro claims that over half a dozen people were arrested for vandalism, against whom her team is weighing potential legal action.
Recently, the administration appeared to get the algae cleaned up, though the Reflecting Pool is currently fenced off from the public due to Fourth of July festivities. Trump announced that the over 6.5-million-gallon basin will be drained after Independence Day for repairs.
“One of the most offensive images that I hold in my mind are the images of national monuments that are being defaced, ropes torn down, graffitied, and damaged by individuals,” Pirro emphasized.
“I have a vivid memory of this happening several years ago, and over time, where our national monuments and statues are being torn down. And this is not the way of a civilized society. It is anarchy,” Pirro went on.
