WASHINGTON: Former United States (US) Olympic canoe slalom team member David Hearn has been charged with damaging the Reflecting Pool in downtown Washington and faces up to 10 years in prison, US Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro said on Thursday, reported Sputnik/RIA Novosti.
“So today, a grand jury has returned a felony indictment against a defendant, David Hearn, for felony destruction of property, for which he faces 10 years in prison,” Pirro told a press conference.
The prosecutor’s office has collected sufficient evidence to prove in court that Hearn committed a serious crime, the attorney added.
“The indictment is in response to an incident that occurred on June 19 of 2026 in which the defendant Hearn ripped a piece of recently installed sealant on the bottom of the reflecting pool at the Lincoln Memorial. The evidence shows, and we will prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Hearn willfully destroyed property at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool,” Pirro said.
The prosecutor’s office is handling several other cases related to vandalism against the landmark, the attorney stated.
Hearn, 67, competed for the US canoe slalom team at the 1992, 1996, and 2000 Summer Olympic Games.
In April, US President Donald Trump announced that authorities would repair the pond between the George Washington Monument and the Abraham Lincoln Memorial, replacing the surface with the US flag blue so that the water would match.
However, a few days after the repair, the water turned green, necessitating additional work. US media estimated the renovation costs at US$16 million.
Following the US president’s announcement that a group of individuals had damaged the new pond flooring, video surveillance systems and a two-metre-high fence were installed along the pool.
Trump claimed that the vandals cut a trench more than 90 metres long into the pool’s facade and poured aggressive chemicals into it.
The Reflecting Pool is a landmark location, near which US social activist Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his historic “I Have a Dream” speech.
Furthermore, it was here that one of the most iconic scenes in world cinema was filmed: the meeting of Forrest Gump and his beloved Jenny during an anti-war rally. – BERNAMA-SPUTNIK/RIA NOVOSTI
