Who is David Hearn? US Olympian who denies vandalizing Reflecting Pool after viral arrest

An Olympic canoeist has been accused of vandalizing the iconic Reflecting Pool successful Washington, D.C.

David Hearn, 67, who represented the United States successful 3 Summer Olympics, denied the accusations that helium vandalized the recently refurbished Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, aft being arrested by the U.S. Park Police connected Saturday.

Hearn told The Associated Press that helium lone reached into the excavation due to the fact that helium wanted to analyse the peeling caller coating, and helium lone concisely touched a chunk that was inactive attached to the broadside of the pool, past fto spell soon aft a parkland idiosyncratic told him to.

"I'm a funny citizen," Hearn told the outlet. "I reached down to spot what it felt like. It was precise rubbery."

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Now, helium has a day to look successful tribunal adjacent month.

Hearn was antecedently arrested by the U.S. Park Police astir 30 years ago, and ended up beating the charges.

How did helium get to this point?

He comes from a household of US canoeing royalty

Former U.S. Olympian David Hearn was arrested aft allegedly vandalizing the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool successful Washington, D.C. (David Madison/Getty Images, File)

His father, Carter Hearn, was a geologist and adept canoeist who continued to paddle treacherous whitewater good into his precocious 60s, per his website Davey Hearn.

His older sister Cathy is simply a two-time Olympian successful women's kayak and successful 1979 won an unprecedented 3 golden medals astatine the World Championships, and she is simply a subordinate of the 2001 World Championship Team.

His brother, Bill, was besides a United States Canoe and Kayak National Team (USACK) member.

Meanwhile, his woman Jennifer was besides a subordinate of the USACK Women's National Slalom Team and served arsenic David's paddling manager from 1996 to 2001. She started retired arsenic adjunct slalom squad manager astatine the 1992 Olympics successful Barcelona portion she was inactive competing, past successful 1996 she decided to absorption chiefly connected helping David's paddling vocation and became his full-time coach.

He says helium carried the Olympic torch done Washington, DC

Hearn's website claims helium was an Olympic torch bearer for the past Summer Olympics that was based successful the U.S. — the 1996 Atlanta Games.

Hearn was among 23 canoe/kayak athletes who participated successful the nationwide Olympic Torch Relay, and Hearn was chosen to transportation the torch into Washington, D.C.

"It was an unthinkable grant to beryllium a torch bearer for the Olympics successful my ain state," reads a punctuation from him connected the website.

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A storybook career

Hearn repeatedly had to settee for metallic down his ain grooming partner, Jon Lugbill, successful the World Championships. Hearn took 2nd to Lugbill astatine the lawsuit successful 1979, 1981 and 1983 earlier yet breaking done to seizure his archetypal idiosyncratic World Championship golden successful 1985.

But aft that, the fierce rivalry continued, with Hearn taking metallic down Lugbill doubly much successful 1987 and 1989. But Hearn refused to slice away.

A afloat decennary aft his archetypal idiosyncratic title, successful 1995, a 36-year-old Hearn defied the likelihood and reclaimed the C-1 World Championship gold. His teammates past famously hoisted him into the air, carrying him connected their shoulders, each portion helium was inactive sitting wrong his canoe.

Following his 1995 triumph, Hearn was named the USA Canoe/Kayak Male Athlete of the Year. He represented the United States successful 3 consecutive Summer Olympics: 1992, 1996 and 2000.

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A past with the Park Police

Hearn's apprehension this week was not his first, arsenic his past with the U.S. Park Police goes backmost astir 3 decades, according to a 1996 Washington Post article.

That year, the Potomac River turned violent, arsenic intense, dense rains pushed the h2o to a terrifying, near-record flood level of 60,000 cubic feet per second.

Authorities instantly issued an exigency stream closure. Where the authorities saw a deadly hazard, the Olympian saw an irresistible, surging playground.

Hearn took his whitewater canoe consecutive into the raging rapids.

U.S. Park Police officers rapidly spotted him from the shore. They shouted implicit the roaring water, ordering the Olympian to paddle implicit to the riverbank.

The infinitesimal Hearn's vessel touched the federally-controlled shore, officers swooped successful and arrested him.

He was charged with failing to obey a lawful order. But Hearn fought the lawsuit successful tribunal — and won connected a stunning technicality.

A national justice wholly tossed the charges out. The justice ruled that the Potomac River itself is controlled by the authorities of Maryland, meaning the national Park Police had zero jurisdiction implicit the water.

Furthermore, due to the fact that the constabulary had ordered Hearn to paddle implicit to the national riverbank, they couldn't legally penalize him for being there.

But present astir 30 years later, Hearn's curiosity and his aged rivals astatine the Park Police would collide erstwhile again.

His latest viral arrest

Hearn was finishing up a grueling 52-mile motorcycle thrust erstwhile helium swung by the Reflecting Pool this week.

Paint peels from the bottommost of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. (REUTERS/Annabelle Gordon)

Hearn reached down into the water. He insists helium didn't propulsion oregon teardrop anything. But it didn't matter.

Moments later, the 67-year-old was surrounded by National Guard troops and U.S. Park Police officers.

Journalist Emily Miller happened to beryllium there. She filmed a two-minute video of Hearn being detained, which rapidly went viral connected X.

Miller accused Hearn of grabbing a hose that pistillate National Park Service workers were utilizing to wide the algae. Hearn denied the accusation, though helium admitted his motorcycle tyre mightiness person bumped it.

"I didn't vandalize anything," Hearn told The Washington Post. "By the clip I realized what was going on, I was being enactment successful handcuffs."

Hearn was slapped with a misdemeanor complaint for demolition of authorities property.

In a connection connected Truth Social Saturday night, Trump announced "many further people" person been arrested aft suspects "took immoderate signifier of weapon oregon blade, and enactment a 250-foot-long gash into the beauteous facade of what took truthful overmuch work, competence, and wealth to physique and complete."

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The president besides alleged suspects "poured corrosive and destructive chemicals" into the basin.

"It hasn’t looked oregon worked similar this since 1922, erstwhile it was primitively built, but adjacent then, it leaked badly, and didn’t work," Trump wrote successful the post. "Ours worked perfectly, including the reflector similar finish, perfectly reflecting the 2 Great Monuments, which it ne'er had before! What these unspeakable Vandals person done is simply a existent affront to some Presidents George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, and should beryllium dealt with accordingly."

Fox News Digital has reached retired to an email code connected Hearn's website for comment.