Charges dropped against Olympian accused of vandalising Reflecting Pool
The Trump administration has backed down on criminal charges against an Olympian accused of vandalising Washington DC’s Reflecting Pool.
Instead it has conceded the damage to the pool was caused by a flawed installation.
The Reflecting Pool has now been drained. AP Photo/Rahmat Gul
The US Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro requested the case against former slalom canoeist David Hearn be dismissed.
In her motion she revealed that evidence presented to the grand jury by her office was untrue.
After the indictment was made against Hearn, the Attorney’s office received information that revealed he was innocent.
“Damage to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in June 2026 was the result of flawed installation by the contractor, Atlantic Industrial Coating,” her motion read.
“It was not until after these documents were produced that USAO-DC (US Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia) first became aware of information showing that the damage was the result of a botched installation and not vandalism as initially represented by DOI (Department of the Interior).”
Hearn had been arrested after he was allegedly seen tearing at the lining of the Reflecting Pool on June 19.
David Hearn of the United States competing in the Men’s C1 whitewater canoeing final in the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. Getty Images
He and others were accused of vandalising the pool in a way that caused the newly installed lining to break.
But when the pool was fully drained, it became apparent that the damage was widespread in a way that could not be committed by vandals.
However, the motion revealed that the National Park Service was aware the lining of the pool was peeling more than a week before Hearn’s arrest.
The US Attorney’s Office accused the Department of Interior of providing “less than fulsome information at the outset of this case”.
Hearn won sixth consecutive world championship gold medals in slalom canoe, and competed in three Olympics.
Blue material is peeling off the bottom of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. CNN
Hearn had pleaded not guilty to the charge of destruction of property.
The Reflecting Pool has been one of Donald Trump’s most touted renovation projects in DC this year.
But the renovation was marred by the flawed installation, leading to the iconic pool being overwhelmed by green algae.
Attempts to kill off the algae with chemicals did not succeed, but apparently killed several ducklings.
The job of painting the pool “American Flag Blue” at Trump’s request was given to a company who worked on his golf course with a no-bid contract.
The pool is one of Washington’s best known landmarks. A quarter of a million people gathered around the pool in 1963 to hear Martin Luther King Jr’s ‘I Have A Dream’ speech.
Martin Luther King improvised most of his 'I Have a Dream' speech. Getty
A massive anti-Vietnam war rally in 1967 was famously depicted in the film Forrest Gump, in which the main character runs through the water to embrace his beloved Jenny.
The dismissal of the case is a new embarrassment for Pirro, who previously was a local judge in New York before becoming a Fox News host.
Pirro previously charged a DC man with assault after he threw a sandwich at a federal agent.
The jury found the man not guilty after the judge instructed them that no forcible assault had been committed.
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