Additional Coverage:
Fox News host Jesse Watters delivered a sharp remark Thursday evening following the indictment of former U.S. Olympic canoeist David “Davey” Hearn on charges related to damage at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.
“Don’t do the crime, if you can’t do the time,” Watters stated during his Fox News segment. Hearn was formally charged in D.C.
Superior Court with one felony count of destruction of property. Prosecutors allege he caused over $1,000 in damage to the Reflecting Pool, which recently underwent a costly multimillion-dollar restoration.
Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, reported that National Park Service employees witnessed Hearn “forcefully and violently pulling up and removing the bottom liner” of the pool with both hands on June 19. During a press conference, Pirro described how a parks worker told Hearn to stop, but he responded by shouting that she cared too much about the pool and questioned why it mattered to her since it wasn’t her property.
According to Pirro, witnesses characterized Hearn’s behavior as “belligerent, rude and disrespectful.” Prosecutors contend the damage was intentional and involved approximately two square feet of the pool’s sealant.
Hearn’s legal team, including Norm Eisen from Democracy Defenders Fund and Mary Dohrmann of Washington Litigation Group, rejected the accusations and criticized the prosecution. In a statement, they asserted, “Davey Hearn is innocent.
These charges are outrageous and should alarm every American. This indictment appears to be an attempt by the administration to deflect blame for their own shortcomings.”
They further emphasized that, “On the eve of our nation’s Independence Day, Americans should be concerned about the misuse of government authority against an ordinary citizen based on a fabricated story. The justice system’s role is to uncover facts, not to serve as political cover.”
Hearn has maintained that he stopped by the Reflecting Pool during a bike ride and only touched a loose section of the coating out of curiosity about the peeling liner and algae buildup. He told NBC News that he did not cause any damage, stating, “The condition of the Reflecting Pool was the same after I stepped away from the water as it was before I got there.”
Pirro noted that prosecutors plan to present expert testimony to establish that repairs will exceed $1,000, elevating the charge to a felony. Authorities also believe Hearn used both bare hands to cause the damage.
The Reflecting Pool’s recent refurbishment cost more than $14 million and featured a distinctive blue coating dubbed “American flag blue” by former President Trump.