Following his arrest for misdemeanor destruction of government property on June 19, former three-time U.S. Olympian David Hearn has been indicted in Washington, D.C. on a far more serious charge.
On Thursday, U.S. Attorney for D.C. Jeanine Pirro announced that the 67-year-old canoeist has been indicted on a single count of destruction of property worth $1,000 or more. Hearn faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted.
The indictment comes after Hearn was accused of "maliciously" destroying the lining of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool on the day in question. The Trump administration put work into renovating the pool so that it would reflect better.
In a press conference, Pirro stated that the prosecution has evidence that will "prove beyond a reasonable doubt" that Hearn intentionally destroyed property at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.
"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," she said, via ABC News. "The evidence shows, we will prove beyond a reasonable doubt, that Hearn willfully destroyed property at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool."
Hearn's Side of the Story
In an interview with ABC News last month, Hearn gave his side of what happened. He said that all he did was see a loose bit of blue coating and touched it, but did not harm or destroy the material in any way.
“I saw a piece of this loose end of this blue coating … I reached out and touched the end of that piece that was loose but still attached to the bottom,” Hearn said. “I was able to reach out and touch the edge of that that was still attached at the bottom and handled it a little bit.”
“I did not remove, I did not damage, I did not rip, tear, break, destroy or harm any part of the Reflecting Pool,” Hearn said. “The condition of that part and all other parts of the Reflecting Pool were in the same condition after I walked away as they were before I walked up to it.”
© Josh Morgan / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
Hearn said that he was told by a National Park Service employee to stop and complied but was told to meet with Park Police by a National Guardsman afterwards. He said he did not realize he was being arrested and claims he was never read his rights, told of the charges or allowed to make any phone calls for the next five hours.
“I had no idea I was about to be arrested,” Hearn said. “They didn’t say they were charging me, but they did start to handcuff me. They did not ever read me my rights. They did not allow me any phone calls for the ensuing five hours, and they did not detail the charges that were going to be leveled against me.”
The Trump administration claims that Hearn is one of many vandals who have gone to great lengths to do severe damage to the iconic pool.
Hearn is an eight-time world champion in canoeing and represented the United States at the Olympics in 1992, 1996 and 2000.
