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An Olympic canoeist has been charged with vandalizing the iconic reflecting pool in Washington, D.C.
David Hearn, 67, who represented the United States in three Summer Olympics, denied allegations that he vandalized the Lincoln Memorial’s newly renovated reflecting pool after being arrested by U.S. Park Police on Saturday.
Hearn told The Associated Press that he only reached into the pool because he wanted to examine the newly peeling layer, and only briefly touched a piece still attached to the side of the pool, then released it shortly after a park worker told him to.
“I’m a curious citizen,” Hearn told the outlet. “I bent down to see how it felt. It was very rubbery.”
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He now has a court date next month.
Hearn was previously arrested by U.S. Park Police nearly 30 years ago and ended up avoiding charges.
How did you get to this point?
He comes from a family of American canoeing 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 paddling treacherous rapids well into his 60s, according to his Davey Hearn website.
Her older sister, Cathy, is a two-time Olympian in women’s kayaking, winning an unprecedented three World Championship gold medals in 1979, and is a member of the 2001 World Championship team.
His brother, Bill, was also a member of the United States National Canoe and Kayak Team (USACK).
Meanwhile, his wife Jennifer was also a member of the USACK Women’s National Slalom Team and served as David’s rowing coach from 1996 to 2001. She began as assistant manager of the slalom team at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona while still competing, then in 1996 she decided to focus primarily on helping David’s rowing career and became his full-time coach.
He says he carried the Olympic torch through Washington, D.C.
Hearn’s website states that he was an Olympic torchbearer at the last Summer Olympics to take place in the US: the 1996 Atlanta Games.
Hearn was among 23 canoe/kayak athletes who participated in the national Olympic Torch Relay, and Hearn was chosen to carry the torch to Washington, DC.
“It was an incredible honor to be an Olympic torchbearer in my own state,” reads a quote from him on the website.
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A storybook career
Hearn repeatedly had to settle for silver behind his own training partner, Jon Lugbill, at the World Championships. Hearn placed second to Lugbill in the event in 1979, 1981 and 1983 before finally achieving 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 fade.
A decade after his first singles title, in 1995, Hearn, 36, defied the odds and claimed gold at the C-1 World Championships. His teammates then lifted him into the air, carrying him on their shoulders, while he was still sitting inside his canoe.
Following his 1995 triumph, Hearn was named USA Canoe/Kayak Male Athlete of the Year. He represented the United States in three consecutive Summer Olympics: 1992, 1996 and 2000.
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A story with the Park Police
Hearn’s arrest this week was not his first, as his history with the U.S. Park Police dates back nearly three decades, according to a 1996 Washington Post article.
That year, the Potomac River turned violent, as intense, heavy rains 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 and growing playing field.
Hearn took his whitewater canoe directly toward the raging rapids.
U.S. Park Police officers quickly spotted it from the shore. They shouted over the roaring water, ordering the Olympian to row to the river’s edge.
The moment Hearn’s boat touched the federally controlled coast, agents swooped in and arrested him.
He was charged with failure to obey a lawful order. But Hearn fought the case in court and won on a surprising technicality.
A federal judge dismissed 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, since the police had ordered Hearn to row to the federal bank of the river, they could not legally penalize him for being there.
But now, almost 30 years later, Hearn’s curiosity and his old rivals in the Park Police would clash once again.
His latest viral arrest
Hearn was finishing a grueling 52-mile bike ride when he passed Reflecting Pool this week.
Paint peels off the bottom of the Lincoln Memorial’s reflecting pool. (REUTERS/Annabelle Gordon)
Hearn dove into the water. He insists he didn’t throw or tear anything. But it didn’t matter.
Moments later, the 67-year-old man was surrounded by National Guard troops and U.S. Park Police officers.
Journalist Emily Miller was there. She filmed a two-minute video of Hearn’s arrest, which quickly went viral on X.
Miller accused Hearn of grabbing a hose that National Park Service workers were using to remove algae. Hearn denied the allegation, although he admitted that the tire of his bicycle could have hit her.
“I didn’t destroy anything,” Hearn told the Washington Post. “When I realized what was happening, they were handcuffing me.”
Hearn was charged with misdemeanor destruction of government property.
In a statement on Truth Social on Saturday night, Trump announced that “many more people” had been arrested after the suspects “took some type of knife or blade and made a 250-foot-long gash in the beautiful façade of what took so much work, competence and money to build and complete.”
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The president also alleged that the suspects “poured corrosive and destructive chemicals” into the basin.
“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, which perfectly reflects the two Great Monuments, something I’ve never had before! What these terrible vandals “What we have done is a true affront to Presidents George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, and must be dealt with accordingly.”
Pak Gazette Digital reached out to an email address on Hearn’s website for comment.
