Former Olympian Pleads Not Guilty to Reflecting Pool Vandalism Charge

Former Olympic canoeist David Hearn pleaded not guilty to a felony charge of destruction of property during his arraignment hearing on Thursday in connection with damage to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.

Supporters for Hearn gathered outside the H. Carl Moultrie Courthouse before and after the hearing, carrying signs that read “Scapegoat for deflecting pool fail: Free Davey” and “Davey’s a champ, not a scamp!”

Hearn entered his plea before Judge Carmen McLean in D.C. Superior Court.

U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro announced Hearn’s indictment on July 2, contending that the 67-year-old from Bethesda, Maryland, allegedly caused more than $1,000 of damage to the Reflecting Pool.

Pirro accused Hearn of using his bare hands to “forcefully and violently” pull up and remove about 2 square feet of sealant from the bottom of the Reflecting Pool on June 19. An employee from the National Park Service on that day commanded Hearn to “stop his behavior and stop what he was doing,” Pirro said in a press conference July 2.

“Hearn reacted by shouting at the parks employee, saying that she cared too much about the Reflecting Pool, and why did she even care since it wasn’t her pool,” Pirro said. “Mr. Hearn’s behavior was characterized by witnesses as belligerent, rude and disrespectful.”

Hearn was arrested at the scene. If found guilty, he faces up to 10 years in prison.

Hearn is one of at least seven people to be arrested at the Reflecting Pool for alleged destruction of property and vandalism, according to the White House. After a first phase of renovations ordered by President Donald Trump ahead of America’s 250th anniversary, the iconic pool began to see algae blooms and the peeling of Trump’s favored “American flag blue” paint that had recently been used to coat the pool’s surface.

Hearn and his lawyers have maintained his innocence. Hearn told NBC News in June that he stopped by the Reflecting Pool after a bike ride on the day of his arrest “to satisfy my curiosity as a citizen of what was happening with all the algae and the peeling blue coating.” He said he only touched the paint.

“It was kind of stiff, stiff, but flexible, pretty rubbery. Didn’t feel brittle in any way,” Hearn said. “I didn’t remove, tear, rip, break or destroy any of it. The condition of the Reflecting Pool was the same after I stepped away from the water as it was before I got there.”

This is a developing story and will be updated.