U.S. Olympic canoeist David "Davey" Hearn was indicted Thursday on a single count of destruction of property after prosecutors said he caused more than $1,000 in damage to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.
U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro said National Park Service employees observed Hearn forcefully and violently pulling up and removing the bottom liner of the pool during an incident on June 19 and that about two square feet of sealant was damaged; she said federal authorities believe he used his bare hands and that prosecutors will call an expert to show the damage would cost more than $1,000 to repair. Pirro said the charge is a felony and that Hearn faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted.
Hearn's lawyers, Norm Eisen and Mary Dohrmann, issued a statement saying Hearn is innocent and that the indictment "reflects the administration's effort to shift blame for their own failures." Hearn told authorities he stopped at the pool during a 64-mile bike ride, was arrested and detained for five hours after he touched a piece of detached coating, and said he did not remove, tear or destroy any of the coating. Prosecutors acknowledged that the liner had come up in various locations before Hearn arrived and did not specify the condition at the precise spot where they allege he caused damage.
Frank Lands, deputy director for operations for the National Park Service, said in a sworn declaration that the reflecting pool liner was cut with a sharp knife or razor on June 9 and that "a caulk over the foam sealant" was cut and there was "destruction of delaminating surface material." Lands wrote that "approximately 70 fence post tops were thrown into the pool," said he has personal knowledge of the facts and is willing to testify in court, and that he assumed his current role in 2023.
Pirro said there are about a half dozen other cases related to the alleged vandalism at the Reflecting Pool and that some may be misdemeanors or violations rather than felonies. The U.S. Park Police said at least five people have been arrested and five additional people were issued federal citations; the agency posted a bulletin seeking help identifying a person wanted in a "destruction of government property" investigation and included a video it said shows a person reaching into the pool at 3:36 p.m. ET on Friday, June 19.
The pool underwent a multi-million dollar rehabilitation project this spring that has been described in reporting as a $14.7 million sealant job and described by the administration as $16 million, and the water has since been plagued by algae and peeling blue coating. The federal government awarded a company owned by a Trump donor a $1.7 million contract to install a new water cleaning system for the Reflecting Pool.
President Donald Trump has repeatedly blamed vandals, saying, "The Reflecting Pool that you've heard so much about, which is so incredible, it's been gruesomely vandalized by thugs, bad people, but soon will be looking as beautiful as it looked just two weeks ago," and adding that "the vandals got to it, they've largely been caught and are being prosecuted." Trump has said the pool will be drained again for "permanent repair" around the Fourth of July and that evidence of damage would be shown in court: "Yeah, at the right time you'll see it," he said. Trump also said at one point that six people had been arrested.