Attorney says felony charge for touching pool would put ‘every American at risk’
Hearn, 67, a three-time Olympic canoeist, was arrested last month after being seen reaching into the water at the Reflecting Pool. The U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, Jeanine Pirro, alleged that Hearn “ripped” a piece of the recently installed sealant in a “deliberate act” to cause damage. He faces a single count of destruction of property, a felony.
Speaking outside the courthouse on Thursday, Eisen said that if Hearn can be charged with a felony for touching the pool, “every American is at risk.” Eisen said, “It is not a crime to touch the Reflecting Pool, to touch water, in the United States of America.”
Hearn himself has maintained that he did not damage the pool. In a previous interview with BBC News, he said he “didn’t destroy, rip, tear, peel, or remove any part” of the paint. He told the BBC at the time that the coating he touched had already “delaminated” and that he had only touched a piece of liner that was already separating.
The Reflecting Pool underwent a multi-million dollar resealing and repainting project this spring that President Donald Trump championed as part of a broader effort to beautify the capital. Trump has blamed vandals for damage to the newly applied coating. However, the pool has continued to suffer from algae growth, and pieces of the blue sealant began peeling off within days of being applied.
National Park Service official Frank Lands said in a court filing last month that the liner along the bottom of the pool had been cut with a sharp knife or razor sometime around June 9 — ten days before Hearn’s arrest. The filing did not link Hearn to that damage.
In addition to Hearn, U.S. Park Police say five people have been arrested for vandalism in connection with the Reflecting Pool, and five others have been issued federal citations. Hearn’s attorneys have accused the Trump administration of charging their client in an effort to shift blame for the project’s problems.