Olympic Canoeist Hearn Pleads Not Guilty To Reflecting Pool Charge

Former U.S. Olympic canoeist David Hearn pleaded not guilty to a felony destruction of property charge for damaging the sealant installed at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, a charge his attorneys said was “based on a false and politicized narrative.”

Hearn walked out of a courthouse in Washington, D.C., after his arraignment on Thursday morning, smiling as he was greeted by a crowd of supporters holding signs and chanting his name.

Hearn did not speak, but his attorney Norm Eisen called the prosecution a “misuse of government power against an ordinary American.”

Eisen said he expected to receive “substantial discovery” from prosecutors, but also claimed “the evidence will establish, as we have stated today, Mr. Hearn is innocent.”

D.C. Superior Court Judge Carmen McLean released Hearn on his own recognizance without bail, according to multiple reports.

Prosecutors also asked the judge to order Hearn to stay away from the Reflecting Pool, but McLean ultimately did not issue the order to the 67-year-old.

A grand jury previously returned an indictment against Hearn for a single charge of destruction of property causing more than $1,000 in damages, a charge U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro said comes with a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.

“If Mr. Hearn can be charged with a felony for touching the Reflecting Pool, every American is at risk, and every American should be alarmed about this prosecution,” Eisen said on Thursday. “This indictment reflects the administration’s efforts to scapegoat Davey and shift blame for their own failures.” President Donald Trump claimed the administration spent an estimated $16 million on renovations for the Reflecting Pool earlier this year, installing new sealant colored “American flag blue.” At least $14 million went in a no-bid contract to install the sealant, the New York Times first reported. Days after the pool was refilled, an algae bloom resurfaced and onlookers began noticing peeling pieces of sealant in the basin. Trump has since blamed the damage on vandals, and the government has charged and issued citations to multiple individuals.

Hearn was arrested and issued a misdemeanor citation for destruction of property in June, days after images of the peeling sealant began circulating. The former Olympian first told the Washington Post he stopped at the pool while on a 52-mile bike ride, where he says he reached in and felt the material. He denied damaging or removing any piece of the sealant, but was still arrested and detained for about five hours. Last week, Pirro announced the charge against Hearn, describing the encounter as “an effort, a violent effort, to rip up the sealant from the bottom of the pool.” She insisted the government had evidence he damaged the pool.