Photo: Alamy
U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro announced Thursday that a federal grand jury has indicted former Olympic canoeist David Hearn on a felony charge of destruction of property, alleging he deliberately damaged the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.
Prosecutors said Hearn, 67, of Bethesda, Maryland, caused more than $1,000 in damage by tearing up recently installed sealant from the bottom of the reflecting pool.
Hearn represented the United States in canoeing at three Summer Olympic Games.
“Today is about accountability for damaging a national resource, a national treasure,” Pirro said during a news conference. “And that is the reflecting pool that runs from the Washington Monument to the Lincoln Memorial, which is, of course, a symbol of D.C.’s beauty and history.”
Pirro said the recently renovated reflecting pool is a national landmark and warned that anyone who damages federal monuments will face prosecution.
“Make no mistake, if anyone decides they want to damage that, whatever they think their reason is, or whether they think it’s justified or whether they think it’s not important, will be held to account,” she said. “This is a priority not only for the president, but for myself as well.”
According to the indictment, Hearn entered the reflecting pool on June 19 and allegedly tore away about 2 square feet of newly installed sealant.
“The evidence shows, and we will prove beyond a reasonable doubt, that Hearn willfully destroyed property at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool,” Pirro said. “This was a deliberate act to damage the reflecting pool at the National Mall.”
Pirro said National Park Service employees witnessed Hearn “forcefully and violently” pulling up the liner before instructing him to stop. Instead, she said he allegedly responded by asking one employee why she cared because “it wasn’t her pool.”
According to Pirro, witnesses described Hearn as “belligerent, rude and disrespectful.” She also praised National Park Service employees for their work maintaining the National Mall ahead of the nation’s 250th anniversary celebration.
Pirro added that her office is reviewing about a half-dozen other alleged vandalism cases involving federal property, with some expected to result in misdemeanor or lesser charges depending on the evidence. If convicted, Hearn faces up to 10 years in prison.
