The administration of United States President Donald Trump has decided to dismiss criminal charges against former Olympic athlete David Hearn, who was accused of vandalizing the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington, DC.
In a motion filed on Friday afternoon, US Attorney Jeanine Pirro acknowledged that the accusations against Hearn were not substantiated. Pirro wrote that additional documents provided by the Department of the Interior (DOI) after the indictment showed the damage to the Reflecting Pool in June 2026 was caused by flawed installation by the contractor, not vandalism.
"The rush to complete the project led to hasty and botched work that was not remediated before the project was finished and the fencing removed," Pirro explained, citing delayed installation, inclement weather, and repeated testing failures.
The 618-metre (2,028-foot) Reflecting Pool is a historic site, known for moments such as the 1963 March on Washington where Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech. A National Park Service engineer observed peeling of the pool's new lining within two days of the final inspection on June 11.
The project was expected to be completed well before July 4 at relatively little cost to the government.
Loading comments.