A Washington, D.C., grand jury has indicted 67-year-old former Olympic canoeist David Hearn on a felony destruction of property charge for allegedly damaging the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro announced Thursday. The charge carries a potential 10-year prison sentence.
Pirro stated that on June 19, Hearn “ripped a piece of recently installed sealant on the bottom of the Reflecting Pool at the Lincoln Memorial.” She described the act as deliberate and violent, noting that National Park Service employees witnessed the incident. According to Pirro, a park service worker told Hearn to stop, but he responded by questioning why she cared about the pool.
“This was a deliberate act to damage the Reflecting Pool at the National Mall, that members of the National Park Service actually have worked hard to restore and have witnessed,” Pirro said at a press conference. She added that Hearn used his bare hands to “forcefully and violently” pull up about two square feet of the bottom liner, causing over $1,000 in damage.
Hearn’s legal team, attorneys Norm Eisen and Mary Dohrmann, condemned the indictment as a political move. “This indictment reflects the administration’s effort to shift blame for their own failures,” they said in a statement. “On the eve of our nation’s Independence Day, Americans should be deeply concerned by the misuse of government power against an ordinary citizen based on a concocted narrative.” The case has drawn comparisons to other recent protests, such as the Air Force major arrested at the Capitol and protesters scaling the Empire State Building.
Hearn, a Bethesda, Md., resident, was initially arrested on misdemeanor charges last month. He denies any wrongdoing, telling The Washington Post, “I didn’t vandalize anything. I didn’t destroy or break or peel anything. By the time I realized what was going on, I was being put in handcuffs.” He also claimed he was never read his Miranda rights.
Pirro defended the severity of the charge, saying it is based on evidence from disinterested witnesses. “When we have witnesses, when we have the defendant on record saying things that are not true, and we have witnesses who are disinterested, who have no motive to lie, they have no agenda, they’re just working there,” she said. “And they are actually witnessing damage to a national monument. We’re going to go forward.”
The indictment comes amid ongoing controversy over the Reflecting Pool’s maintenance. President Trump previously ordered the pool drained and painted “American flag blue” after algae blooms, and he speculated that vandals used a box cutter to create a 300-foot slit in the coating. The Interior Department has used hydrogen peroxide and nanobubbler technology to address the algae. The situation has sparked political debate, with some lawmakers, like a Virginia Democrat noting more arrests for pool damage than the Epstein case, and others proposing to turn the pool into a wetland.
Pirro said six other arrests have been made in connection with the Reflecting Pool, with cases under review. Some may result in misdemeanors or lesser violations. The indictment of Hearn, a former Olympic athlete, has intensified scrutiny on the administration’s handling of the iconic site.
