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An Olympic canoeist has been accused of vandalizing the iconic Reflecting Pool in Washington, DC
David Hearn, 67, who represented the United States at three Summer Olympics, denied allegations that he vandalized the newly renovated Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool after being arrested by US Park Police on Saturday.
Hearn told The Associated Press that he only reached into the pool because he wanted to examine the peeling new coating, and he only briefly touched a portion still attached to the side of the pool, then released shortly after a park worker told him to.
“I’m a curious citizen,” Hearn told the paper. “I reached down to see how it felt. It was very rubbery.”
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Now he has a date to appear in court next month.
Hearn was previously arrested by the US Park Police nearly 30 years ago and ended up beating the charges.
How did he get to this point?
He comes from a family of American canoe royalty
Former US Olympian David Hearn was arrested after allegedly vandalizing the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington, DC (David Madison/Getty Images, file)
His father, Carter Hearn, was a geologist and expert canoeist who continued to paddle treacherous whitewater well into his late 60s, according to his Davey Hearn website.
His older sister Cathy is a two-time Olympian in women’s kayaking, winning an unprecedented three gold medals at the World Championships in 1979, and she is a member of the 2001 World Championships.
His brother, Bill, was also a member of the United States Canoe and Kayak (USACK) National Team.
Meanwhile, his wife Jennifer was also a member of the USACK Women’s National Slalom Team and served as David’s paddle coach from 1996 to 2001. She started as an assistant slalom team manager at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona while still competing, and in 1996 decided to focus mainly on assisting David’s nursing coach.
He says he carried the Olympic torch through Washington, DC
Hearn’s website claims he was an Olympic torchbearer for the last Summer Olympics based in the United States – the 1996 Atlanta Games.
Hearn was among 23 canoe/kayak athletes who participated in the nationwide Olympic Torch Relay, and Hearn was selected to carry the torch into Washington, DC
“It was an incredible honor to be a torchbearer for the Olympics in my own state,” reads a quote from him on the website.
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A storybook career
Hearn had to settle for silver several times behind his own training partner, Jon Lugbill, in the world championships. Hearn finished second to Lugbill at the event in 1979, 1981 and 1983 before finally breaking through to capture his first individual world championship gold in 1985.
But after that the fierce rivalry continued, with Hearn taking silver behind Lugbill twice more in 1987 and 1989. But Hearn refused to go away.
A full decade after his first individual title, in 1995, a 36-year-old Hearn defied the odds and reclaimed the C-1 world championship gold. His teammates then famously lifted him into the air and carried him on their shoulders, all while he was still inside his canoe.
Following his 1995 triumph, Hearn was named the USA Male Canoe/Kayak Athlete of the Year. He represented the United States at three consecutive Summer Olympics: 1992, 1996 and 2000.
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A history of the Park Police
Hearn’s arrest this week was not his first, as his history with the US Park Police dates back nearly three decades, according to a 1996 Washington Post article.
That year, the Potomac River raged as intense, heavy rain pushed the water to a frightening, near-record flood level of 60,000 cubic feet per second.
Authorities immediately issued an emergency closure of the river. Where the government saw mortal danger, the Olympian saw an irresistible, rolling playground.
Hearn took his whitewater canoe straight into the raging rapids.
US Park Police officers quickly spotted him from the shore. Shouting over the rushing water, they ordered the Olympian to paddle to the river bank.
The moment Hearn’s boat touched the federally controlled shore, officers moved in and arrested him.
He was charged with disobeying a lawful order. But Hearn fought the case in court – and won on a fantastic technicality.
A federal judge threw out the charges entirely. The judge ruled that the Potomac River itself is controlled by the state of Maryland, meaning the federal Park Police had no jurisdiction over the water.
Furthermore, because the police had ordered Hearn to paddle over to the federal riverbank, they could not legally punish him for being there.
But now almost 30 years later, Hearn’s curiosity and his old rivals at the Park Police would collide again.
His latest viral arrest
Hearn was finishing a grueling 52km bike ride when he swung past the Reflecting Pool this week.
Paint peeling from the bottom of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. (REUTERS/Annabelle Gordon)
Hearn reached into the water. He insists he didn’t pull or tear anything. But it didn’t matter.
Moments later, the 67-year-old was surrounded by National Guard troops and US Park Police officers.
Journalist Emily Miller happened to be there. She filmed a two-minute video of Hearn being detained, which quickly went viral on X.
Miller accused Hearn of grabbing a hose that female National Park Service workers were using to clean the algae. Hearn denied the charge, although he admitted that his bike tire might have bumped it.
“I didn’t vandalize anything,” Hearn told The Washington Post. “When I realized what was going on, I was handcuffed.”
Hearn was booked on one count of destruction of government property.
In a statement on the Truth Social Saturday night, Trump announced that “many additional people” have been arrested after the suspect “took some kind of knife or blade and put a 250-foot gash in the beautiful facade of what took so much work, skill and money to build and finish.”
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The president also alleged that suspects “poured corrosive and destructive chemicals” into the pool.
“It hasn’t looked or worked like this since 1922 when it was originally built, but even then it leaked badly and didn’t work,” Trump wrote in the post. “Ours worked perfectly, including the mirror-like finish that perfectly reflected the two large monuments, which it never had before! What these terrible vandals has done is a true insult to both Presidents George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, and should be dealt with accordingly.”
Pakinomist Digital has reached out to an email address on Hearn’s website for comment.
