Ex-US Olympian indicted in what Trump called Reflecting Pool vandalism
Former canoe racer David Hearn is accused of damaging the bottom liner of the Washington landmark and could face 10 years in prison
A former Olympian was indicted on Thursday on a felony charge in what US President Donald Trump has called vandalism of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, where a renovation project he launched has been riddled with problems.
David Hearn, a former Olympic canoe racer, was indicted on a single count of property destruction in a Washington court.
District of Columbia US Attorney Jeanine Pirro said Hearn ripped up recently installed sealant on the pool in “a deliberate act” that caused more than US$1,000 in damage. The charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.
She accused him of “forcefully and violently” pulling up the bottom liner “with both hands” and acting belligerently towards an employee who told him to stop.
“This is a case with tremendous evidence,” she said, adding that authorities have made about six other misdemeanour arrests.
In a statement, Democracy Defenders Fund co-founder Norm Eisen and Mary Dohrmann, senior counsel at Washington Litigation Group, said that they represented Hearn and that the charges were “outrageous and should be alarming to every American”.