Former U.S. Olympic canoeist David Hearn pleaded not guilty Thursday to a felony charge accusing him of damaging the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. Meanwhile, his attorneys argued the government is trying to hold him responsible for problems that had already surfaced in the project’s $16 million renovation.
Hearn appeared in D.C. Superior Court after a grand jury indicted him on one count of destruction of property. Prosecutors say he caused more than $1,000 in damage by pulling up part of the pool’s newly installed blue liner. Judge Carmen McLean released Hearn on his own recognizance and scheduled his next court appearance for Aug. 5.
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Defense says Hearn is taking the blame
Attorney Norm Eisen said Hearn did not damage the Reflecting Pool and accused prosecutors of building a felony case around a false narrative.
“If Mr. Hearn can be charged with a felony for touching the Reflecting Pool, every American is at risk and every American should be alarmed about this prosecution,” Eisen said.
Eisen called the case “a misuse of government power” and said the administration was trying to shift responsibility for a renovation that had already begun failing onto “an ordinary American based on a false and politicized narrative.”
Hearn has consistently denied damaging the pool. He says he stopped during a bicycle ride, reached down to touch a section of blue liner that was already peeling away, and left the Reflecting Pool in the same condition he found it.
Prosecutors describe a different scene
When announcing the indictment last week, U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro said National Park Service employees watched Hearn vandalize the pool
“By Hearn’s own admission, on June 19th, he reached down into the pool,” Pirro said. “Our evidence further shows that the National Park Service employees observed Hearn actually forcefully and violently pulling up and removing the bottom liner with both hands.”
The indictment accuses Hearn of damaging about two square feet of sealant. Three other people accused of removing pieces of the pool’s liner face misdemeanor charges. Hearn is the only defendant charged with a felony.
Renovation becomes part of the case
The Reflecting Pool renovation is now at the center of both sides’ arguments.
President Donald Trump made restoring the landmark one of his Washington beautification priorities, but the more than $16 million project ran into visible problems after reopening. Sections of the new blue linerbegan peeling away, and algae turned the water green.
Trump has blamed vandals for damaging the pool. Hearn’s attorneys argue those issues were already visible before he stopped at the Reflecting Pool and say prosecutors are trying to make him responsible for a project that was already struggling.
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