​Former U.S. Olympian David Hearn appeared in D.C. Superior Court on Thursday and entered a not guilty plea through his attorney to the felony charge he faces for allegedly damaging the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. Hearn sat between his lawyers, Steven Levin and Mary Dohrmann, with another attorney, Norm Eisen, positioned behind them in a crowded courtroom. A substantial crowd gathered outside, and Eisen claimed that Hearn was being used as a scapegoat for the administration’s failures on one of Donald Trump’s signature Washington beautification projects.
Federal prosecutors have also charged three other individuals with destruction of property for allegedly removing pieces of blue paint from the Reflecting Pool site, according to court documents. Cameron Thiers, Sophie Dennison-Gibby, and Justin Carreno each face a charge in D.C. Superior Court for allegedly removing paint fragments on the Saturday of June 20. All three appeared in court Wednesday and entered not guilty pleas to the misdemeanor destruction-of-property charge. ABC News sought comment from their attorneys but did not receive an immediate response.
Olympian David Hearn has been indicted for alleged vandalism of the Reflecting Pool, whose waters turned green and whose liner bubbled up after the recent paint job. The pool had already suffered from algae and peeling paint since the Trump administration completed the $16 million renovation of the landmark. President Donald Trump blamed vandals for the issues, without presenting supporting evidence, and Hearn was among those arrested as Trump ominously warned of up to a 10-year prison term.
Dohrmann, a former federal prosecutor who previously worked on Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigative team, entered the not guilty plea on Hearn’s behalf. The only prosecutor from the Justice Department present at the hearing was Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin Reddington, and the 13-minute session concluded with Judge Carmen McLean releasing Hearn on his own recognizance. The next status hearing is scheduled for Wednesday, August 5.
Hearn was indicted on July 2 for allegedly maliciously destroying a portion of the Reflecting Pool’s lining. The single count of destruction of property concerns a roughly two-square-foot section of the pool; a conviction carries a potential sentence of up to 10 years in prison.
Eisen, Hearn’s attorney, briefly spoke to reporters outside the courtroom, drawing cheers from spectators as he defended his client’s innocence while declining to discuss substantive details of the case. “Today, Davey Hearn pled not guilty because he is not guilty,” Eisen stated. The public statement underscored his belief in Hearn’s innocence without delving into evidence or specifics of the accusation.