Latest / THE DAILY BRIEF / Olympian David Hearn charged with destruction of property at D.C. Reflecting Pool

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Olympian David Hearn charged with destruction of property at D.C. Reflecting Pool · THE DAILY BRIEF

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  Speaker 1: Hi Roblindsay Riser, we have breaking news out of Washington,
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  Speaker 1: d C. As Attorney Janine Piro is giving an update
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  Speaker 1: on charges related to the damage found at the Lincoln
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  Speaker 1: Memorial Reflecting Pool.
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  Speaker 2: It's listen resource, a national treasure, and that is the
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  Speaker 2: reflecting pool that runs from the Washington Monument to the
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  Speaker 2: Lincoln Memorial, which is of course a symbol of DC's
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  Speaker 2: beauty and history. Now it was recently renovated with significant
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  Speaker 2: funds and investments. Any tampering undermines that. And make no mistake,
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  Speaker 2: if anyone decides they want to damage that, whatever they
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  Speaker 2: think their reason is, or whether they think it's justified,
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  Speaker 2: or whether they think it's not important, will be held
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  Speaker 2: to account. This is a priority not only for the President,
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  Speaker 2: but for myself as well. So today a grand jury
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  Speaker 2: has returned a felony indictment against a defense David Hearn,
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  Speaker 2: for felony destruction of property, for which he faces ten
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  Speaker 2: years in prison. The indictment is in response to an
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  Speaker 2: incident that occurred on June nineteenth of twenty twenty six,
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  Speaker 2: in which the defendant Herne ripped a piece of recently
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  Speaker 2: installed sealant on the bottom of the reflecting pool at
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  Speaker 2: the Lincoln Memorial. The evidence shows, and we will prove
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  Speaker 2: beyond a reasonable doubt, that Hearne willfully destroyed property at
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  Speaker 2: the Lincoln Memorial reflecting Pool. This was a delivered act
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  Speaker 2: to damage the reflecting pool at the National Mall that
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  Speaker 2: members of the National Park Service actually have worked hard
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  Speaker 2: to restore and have witnessed by Hearn's own admission on
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  Speaker 2: June nineteenth, he reached down into the pool. Our evidence
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  Speaker 2: further shows that the National Park Service employees observed Hern
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  Speaker 2: actually forcefully and violently pulling up and removing the bottom
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  Speaker 2: liner with both hands. According to witnesses, Herne damaged approximately
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  Speaker 2: two square feet of sealant from the bottom of the pool.
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  Speaker 2: A park's employee actually told Herne to stop, to stop
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  Speaker 2: his behavior and stop what he was doing. Hearn reacted
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  Speaker 2: by shouting at that park's employee, saying that she cared
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  Speaker 2: too much about the reflecting pool and why did she
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  Speaker 2: even care since it wasn't her pool now. Mister Hearn's
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  Speaker 2: behavior was characterized by witnesses as belligerent, rude, and disrespectful.
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  Speaker 2: According to National Park Service employees that witness the event,
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  Speaker 2: and let me talk a moment about those employees. Many
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  Speaker 2: of those employees have come from around the country because
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  Speaker 2: they are proud of this nation. They are proud of
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  Speaker 2: the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary that we are about
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  Speaker 2: to experience. Many of them have decided to step away
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  Speaker 2: from their desks and to go outside and actually work
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  Speaker 2: next to the pool to witness what was going on,
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  Speaker 2: as opposed to staying in a cool office. These are
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  Speaker 2: the witnesses that we're talking about in this case. These
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  Speaker 2: are the people who care about this particular monument and
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  Speaker 2: what is going on. They work long hours, and they
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  Speaker 2: are tireless in their efforts, and they must be shown
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  Speaker 2: respect and not be treated with belligerence and with disrespect
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  Speaker 2: by those who seek to damage the very monuments that
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  Speaker 2: they are there to protect. And they certainly should not
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  Speaker 2: have to witness the damage done right in front of
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  Speaker 2: their faces. The United States Attorney's Office for the District
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  Speaker 2: of Columbia remains committed to protecting our national resources, our monuments,
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  Speaker 2: and our parks from vandals, and we are especially committed
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  Speaker 2: to doing so in advance of our two hundred and
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  Speaker 2: fiftieth anniversary. Now, I don't know if you want to
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  Speaker 2: add anything to this. Deputy Chief Deputy Chief Lamont from
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  Speaker 2: the Park Police.
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  Speaker 3: Good afternoon everyone. My name is Deputy Chief David Lamont,
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  Speaker 3: and i am the Field Operations Division Commander for US
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  Speaker 3: Park Police. US Park Police's mission is to support the
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  Speaker 3: mission of the National Park Service and the Department of
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  Speaker 3: Interior into safeguard lives and to protect cultural resources. We
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  Speaker 3: understand the summer there are a lot of events for
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  Speaker 3: America's two hundred and fiftieth birthday, and the US Park
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  Speaker 3: Police will be very visible downtown. Our job out there
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  Speaker 3: is to keep people safe and we encourage people to
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  Speaker 3: come down and enjoy the parks. That being said, if
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  Speaker 3: anybody does come down to the parks commits any acts
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  Speaker 3: of violence or commits any other acts such as vandalism,
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  Speaker 3: we will hold them accountable and they will either be
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  Speaker 3: sighted or arrested.
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  Speaker 2: Okay, questions was this part of the pool?
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  Speaker 3: You know there had been some damage. Was this part
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  Speaker 3: of the pool specifically some of the was the ceilings are.
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  Speaker 1: We've been listening to you. As attorney in Washington, d C.
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  Speaker 1: Janine Piro provide an update on charges related to the
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  Speaker 1: reflecting pool. She said, landmarks and monuments belong to all
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  Speaker 1: of us and need to be protected. She called the
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  Speaker 1: reflecting pool a national treasure. She said it was recently
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  Speaker 1: renovated with significant funds and investment, and she said that
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  Speaker 1: there has been a renaissance in Washington, d C. Of course,
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  Speaker 1: this is echoing a lot of what we hear from
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  Speaker 1: President Trump.
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  Speaker 2: One of his.
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  Speaker 1: Moments of pride, in his view, is cleaning up the
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  Speaker 1: city of DC. She said that this is a priority
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  Speaker 1: for the President and herself. She said former Olympian David
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  Speaker 1: Hearn who was arrested. While we know that he was
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  Speaker 1: arrested at the reflecting Pool last month and has been
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  Speaker 1: indicted by a grand jury in Washington on one count
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  Speaker 1: of destruction of property. She says that he forcefully and
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  Speaker 1: violently removed some of the bottom liner with both of
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  Speaker 1: his hands, that he damaged about two square feet of
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  Speaker 1: the ceilants from the bottom. Remember, the Lincoln Memorial reflecting
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  Speaker 1: pool had been resealed recently with a ceilant that President
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  Speaker 1: Trump himself had picked, and there was a lot of
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  Speaker 1: online fodder after the fact because he had been complaining
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  Speaker 1: about the color of the water and after they had
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  Speaker 1: drained it done this ceiling, then algae actually came back,
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  Speaker 1: turning that reflecting pool green again, and he had painted
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  Speaker 1: the bottom American flag blue, and so some people were
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  Speaker 1: saying that it was already peeling, and then the government
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  Speaker 1: came out and said that many people had been arrested
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  Speaker 1: with trying to vandal it. We heard also there will
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  Speaker 1: be extra park police over the July fourth weekend