Olympic canoeist indicted over Reflecting Pool damage

U.S. Olympic canoeist David “Davey” Hearn has been indicted on a felony destruction of property charge after prosecutors accused him of damaging the liner of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, a site that has drawn scrutiny after a recent renovation and reports of peeling coating and green algae.

Hearn, 67, of Bethesda, Maryland, was indicted Thursday in D.C. Superior Court on a single count of destruction of property for allegedly causing more than $1,000 in damage during a June 19 incident. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro said National Park Service employees saw Hearn “forcefully and violently pulling up and removing the bottom liner” of the pool with both hands.

Pirro said Hearn damaged about two square feet of sealant from the bottom of the pool. She said prosecutors believe he used his bare hands, not a tool, and that they plan to use an expert at trial to show the cost of repair exceeded $1,000, the threshold that makes the charge a felony rather than a misdemeanor. If convicted, Hearn faces up to 10 years in prison.

“A parks employee actually told Hearn to stop, to stop his behavior and stop what he was doing,” Pirro said at a news conference. “Hearn reacted by shouting at the parks employee, saying that she cared too much about the Reflecting Pool, and why did she even care, since it wasn’t her pool.”

Pirro said employees described Hearn’s conduct as “belligerent, rude, and disrespectful” and accused him of deliberately damaging the pool. “One of the most offensive images that I hold in my mind are the images of national monuments that are being defaced, groped, torn down, graffitied, and damaged by individuals,” she said. “This is not the way of the civilized society. It is anarchy.”

Hearn denies the accusation. His attorneys, Norm Eisen, co-founder and executive chair of Democracy Defenders Fund, and Mary Dohrmann, senior counsel at Washington Litigation Group, said in a statement that “Davey Hearn is innocent.”

“These charges are outrageous and should be alarming to every American,” the statement said. “This indictment reflects the administration’s effort to shift blame for their own failures. 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 justice system exists to determine facts, not to provide political cover.”

Hearn previously told NBC News he was arrested and detained for five hours after touching a piece of detached coating in the pool. He said he had stopped at the landmark during a bike ride “to satisfy my curiosity as a citizen of what was happening with all the algae and the peeling blue coating.” CBS News reported he said he was on a 64-mile ride; The Guardian reported he had just finished a 52-mile ride.

Hearn said he did not remove, tear or destroy any coating. “The condition of the Reflecting Pool was the same after I stepped away from the water as it was before I got there,” he told NBC News. He also told The Washington Post, according to The Guardian, “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.”

The Reflecting Pool had already shown problems before Hearn’s arrest. Photos showed blue sealant peeling away, chunks floating on the surface and algae turning the water green. The pool had undergone a $14-million-plus rehabilitation project this spring, including a new liner and coating in a color President Donald Trump named “American flag blue.” The Guardian reported the renovation cost $14.7 million.

The National Park Service said last month that the pool’s liner had been cut with a sharp knife or razor in a June 9 incident reported to U.S. Park Police. In a court filing, Frank Lands, the Park Service’s deputy director of operations, said roughly 70 fence post tops were also thrown into the pool. Pirro said her office is still investigating a large gash in the liner and said there are about half a dozen other cases related to alleged vandalism, some of which may be charged as misdemeanors or violations.

At least five people have been arrested and five others issued federal citations in connection with alleged vandalism at the Reflecting Pool, according to U.S. Park Police, CBS News reported. Details of the evidence in those cases have not been released.