A North Carolina man tried to ring the Liberty Bell, federal prosecutors say
Sean Gerlach pushed the Liberty Bell back and forth to try and make it ring, prosecutors said. And Dawn Hawa was charged with flicking an oily substance onto the famous bell.
Who among us hasn’t dreamed of hearing the long-lost toll of the Liberty Bell — the famously cracked symbol of our city, a 2,000-pound monument to American independence that has not been rung for 180 years?
Sean Gerlach, 50, was apparently more than just idly curious, according to federal prosecutors.
In May, they said, while he was visiting Independence National Historical Park, Gerlach, of Fairview, N.C., jumped over a waist-high barrier protecting the bell — then began pushing it back and forth, hoping to make it chime.
Gerlach has since been charged with two federal crimes, according to court documents unsealed Monday. He faces counts including trespassing and tampering with property on a national park.
He also did not act alone, prosecutors said. Dawn Hawa, 50, of Ephrata, was charged with vandalism for “flicking an oily substance” onto the bell when she visited it with Gerlach.
Prosecutors did not specify what thatwas, but said Hawa managed to hit the bell and some of the display area around it.
Commissioned in 1751, the Liberty Bell — which has a Bible verse inscribed on it reading: “Proclaim Liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof” — has become an iconic symbol of Philadelphia and the United States.
Standing about three feet high with a bottom lip that has a 12-foot circumference, the primarily copper behemoth is perhaps most famous for its vertical crack, which has prevented it from being rung since around 1846.
It has moved from the city on occasion — including in 1777, according to the National Constitution Center, when it was hidden in an Allentown church to keep it from the British, who were viewed as a threat to melt it down and use it for cannons.
The bell has also been taken for road trips to exhibitions and fairs over the years, according to the National Park Service, though the last time it did so was more than 100 years ago.
The bell now resides in the Liberty Bell Center near Sixth and Chestnut Streets, with a view overlooking Independence Hall.
Prosecutors did not report any damage from Gerlach and Hawa’s actions on May 16. The National Park Service ultimately cleaned the oily substance off it.
Attempts to reach Gerlach and Hawa were not immediately successful Monday. Neither had an attorney listed in court records.
