US attorney says Hearn caused $1,000 in damage to pool liner
A grand jury in Washington, D.C., indicted former Olympic canoeist David “Davey” Hearn on a felony charge Thursday, accusing him of maliciously damaging the recently renovated Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool by ripping sealant from its bottom.
U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro told reporters at a press conference that Hearn “ripped a piece of recently installed sealant on the bottom of the reflecting pool” on June 19, causing $1,000 in damage. The indictment charges Hearn with felony destruction of property, a step up from the misdemeanor count he faced at the time of his arrest last month.
Hearn, a three-time Olympian in canoe slalom who has won two world championships, was arrested June 19 after reaching into the pool while finishing a 52-mile bike ride, according to earlier reports. He told the BBC that he touched material that was already damaged and had stopped to examine the pool’s condition. “I didn’t destroy, rip, tear, peel, or remove any part” of the paint, Hearn said, calling the arrest “arbitrary, capricious prosecution.”
The pool, which stretches 2,030 feet between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument, was completed in the 1920s and has a long history of structural problems. Trump ordered a $14.7 million renovation to turn the water “American flag blue” in time for the nation’s 250th birthday celebrations this weekend. Within days of refilling, the pool was clouded with algae and large pieces of the new sealant peeled from the bottom.
Trump said on social media on June 20 that “work will begin immediately on fixing the seriously vandalized Reflecting Pool” and described those responsible as “SICK, DERANGED PEOPLE.” The president has alleged that a 300-foot “gash” was cut through the sealant and that the federal government would release photographs and video to substantiate the claim, but no such evidence has been made public.
U.S. Park Police have said five people have been arrested for vandalism in connection with the Reflecting Pool and five others were issued federal citations. The pool has been the subject of multiple MSI news articles documenting its renovation troubles, the administration’s no-bid contracting, and Trump’s unsubstantiated sabotage allegations.