U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro shut down a reporter who attempted to steer a press conference about vandalism into another rehash of January 6th. The exchange came after Pirro announced a felony indictment against a former U.S. Olympian accused of damaging the newly restored Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. When the reporter compared the case to J6 pardons, Pirro cut him off to make clear that she was unwilling to take the press conference in that direction.
Pirro held the press conference Thursday while announcing charges against David Hearn, a 67-year-old man from Bethesda, Maryland, who competed as an Olympic canoeist in the Summer Olympics of 1992, 1996, & 2000. The case stems from a June 19th incident at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, which had recently been renovated as part of a broader effort to restore parks, monuments, and fountains in Washington, D.C., ahead of America’s 250th anniversary celebrations.
The Department of Justice announced that a grand jury in D.C. Superior Court returned an indictment charging Hearn with one count of felony destruction of property. Prosecutors say Hearn allegedly ripped a piece of recently installed blue sealant from the bottom of the Reflecting Pool. A court hearing in the case was scheduled for July 9th, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.
Pirro said the indictment was about protecting national landmarks, not about political arguments over other cases. “After months of renovations ordered by President Trump to prepare our capital for America’s 250th anniversary—including the restoration of more than 50 parks, 48 monuments, and 22 fountains—these deliberate acts of destruction set back real progress and violate the law,” Pirro said in the DOJ release. She added that monuments like the Reflecting Pool “belong to all of us.”
During the press conference, Pirro accused Hearn of doing more than merely touching the pool liner. “This was a deliberate act to damage the reflecting pool.” She said National Park Service employees saw Hearn “forcefully and violently pulling up and removing the bottom liner with both hands,” and claimed witnesses described his behavior as “belligerent, rude, and disrespectful.”
Pirro also used the press conference to argue that the Trump administration’s renovation work in Washington needed to be defended from vandalism. She said the president had helped clean up 50 parks, repair more than 48 monuments, and return 22 fountains to service. “These monuments and fountains must be protected,” Pirro said, adding that people who damage them would be held accountable.
The tense moment came when a reporter asked Pirro, “How do you square charging this alleged pool vandal when it’s the same Justice Department that—” before Pirro interrupted him. “Already, this is a problem” Pirro began, as the reporter continued by mentioning “over a thousand January 6th rioters” who he said caused millions of dollars in damage at the Capitol.
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Pirro did not allow the reporter to drag the press conference into a longer January 6 argument. “Are you really talking about January 6th?” she asked. When the reporter answered, “Yes,” Pirro responded, “I’m not.” As the reporter tried to keep speaking, Pirro moved on from him and called on someone else in the room.
Watch Pirro shut down the January 6 question here:
The felony charge against Hearn carries serious possible penalties if he is convicted. D.C. law states that maliciously injuring, breaking, or destroying public or private property worth $1,000 or more can be punished by up to 10 years in prison, a fine, or both. The Justice Department said the charge is only an allegation and that Hearn is presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
Hearn has denied that he vandalized the pool. The Washington Post reported that Hearn said he had stopped by the Reflecting Pool during a bike ride and touched a piece of liner that he said was already detached. “I didn’t vandalize anything,” Hearn told the outlet. “I didn’t destroy or break or peel anything.”
Pirro, however, framed the case as part of a larger effort to stop people from damaging federal landmarks in the nation’s capital. She said prosecutors and law enforcement were still looking at other people connected to vandalism around the Reflecting Pool, though she indicated additional charges could be misdemeanors rather than felonies. She also warned that there would be more security watching the area.
The exchange with the reporter became the most heated moment of the press conference, but Pirro kept returning to the same message throughout her remarks. Her office says the case is about an alleged act of destruction at a national landmark. The reporter tried to move the conversation to a preferred topic of reporters hostile to the Trump Administration, but Pirro made clear she was not going to let an event from 2020 take over the press briefing.
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video.