According to multiple national news sources, Federal prosecutors asked that indictment charges against former U.S. Olympic canoeist David Hearn be dismissed. He was previously charged with vandalism and “ripping up the bottom of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.” New information is saying the damage was caused by “a botched installation by a contractor.”
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Washington D.C. had charged Hearn, 67, of Bethesda, Maryland, with felony destruction of government property in June, accusing him of causing more than $1,000 in damage to the sealant that had been recently installed on the bottom of the Reflecting Pool.
According to a story in the New York Times, President Trump blamed vandals for the problems following a quick and costly makeover of the pool, with Hearn among the first to be charged. The U.S. Park Police had arrested Hearn near the pool on June 19, and accused him of destroying government property.
Hearn is a former Canoe Slalom athlete who competed from the late 1970s to the early 2000s, winning seven C1 medals at the ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships, including two Golds (1985 and 1995) and five Silvers (1979, 1981, 1983, 1987, 1989). He also won six consecutive world championship gold medals in the C1 team event (1979-1989), and competed in three Summer Olympics, earning his best finish of ninth at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games. Hearn’s sister, Cathy, also competed for the United States in Canoe Slalom and won a World Championship title in women’s kayak in 1979.
At his hearing in a courtroom packed with supporters, his attorney, Norman Eisen, said: “If Mr. Hearn can be charged for the felony of touching the reflecting pool, every American is at risk.”
Hearn, also an avid a cyclist, told the New York Times he stopped at the site just to have a look, then reached down to touch a strip of peeling blue paint mixed with the algae. “I was just a curious, concerned citizen,” he told the Times. “I guess I was there at the wrong place, wrong time.” Hearn was arrested at the site of the $14 million renovation project after reaching down to touch the water. A builder of canoes, Hearn added that he was interested in the materials the contractors had used.
It’s not Hearn’s first brush with the law concerning a body of water. In 1996, Hearn canoed in the Potomac River after heavy rains and was ordered to stop by United States Park Police officers, who asserted that it was dangerous. When he did not stop canoeing, he was arrested on charges of disobeying a police officer and resisting arrest. The charges were dismissed because the Park Police did not have jurisdiction over the portion of the river that he was in. Later that same year he used his canoeing skills to help Park Police retrieve fishermen that were stranded offshore without life vests.
In Friday’s incident, Hearn told the Times he was on a 50-mile bike ride before stopping at the pool, and that Park Police officers detained him for more than four hours at a facility south of the National Mall.
Paddling Rallying Cry: Help Via GoFundMe!
A GoFundMe page has been set up to help cover Hearn’s legal fees. It reads: “Davey Hearn, a celebrated Olympian, is facing an unexpected and challenging situation. Recently, he was falsely accused of vandalizing the DC reflecting pool, a charge that has shaken both him and those who know his character and dedication. Davey has always represented his community and country with integrity, and these accusations are not only unfounded but threaten to undermine years of hard work and service.”
Watch Hearn’s Attorney’s Rebuttal Here!
And a Couple of FaceBook Memes (Thanks, Corran!)
