Justice Department Drops Vandalism Charges Against Olympian David Hearn

The United States Department of Justice moved to dismiss a felony destruction of property case against David Hearn, a three-time Olympian, in the D.C. Superior Court on Friday. Hearn had been indicted on July 2 for allegedly destroying the coating of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool on June 19. Federal investigators later determined that the damage resulted from a flawed installation by the contractor Atlantic Industrial Coatings, which had rushed a renovation project to meet deadlines for the United States' 250th independence anniversary.

U.S. Attorney for D.C. Jeanine Pirro stated in court documents that the Department of the Interior and the U.S. Park Police initially provided incomplete and barebones reports. These failures led the government to seek a grand jury indictment despite widespread peeling and repeated lining failures throughout the pool. President Donald Trump had previously characterized the damage as the work of thugs and sick, deranged vandals.

While Hearn admitted to touching a partially detached piece of the blue liner, he denied removing any material. His legal team described the prosecution as an abuse of government power and stated that the administration owes him an apology. In addition to the felony charge, prosecutors moved to dismiss at least one of three other misdemeanor cases related to the incident.