A federal grand jury has indicted former U.S. Olympic canoeist David Hearn on a felony charge of destruction of property after his arrest last month at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, a charge that could send the 67-year-old to prison for up to 10 years if convicted.
District of Columbia U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro announced the indictment Thursday, calling it "a case with tremendous evidence" and framing the prosecution as part of a broader effort to protect national monuments ahead of America's 250th anniversary.
Hearn flatly denies the accusation. His attorneys call it a politically motivated attempt to shift blame for a renovation that started falling apart almost as soon as the government declared it finished. A court date is set for July 9. The question at the center of this case is simple: Did a retired Olympian vandalize a national landmark, or did the government find a convenient scapegoat for its own contractor's shoddy work?
Pirro said Hearn ripped up recently installed sealant in what she described as "a deliberate act" that caused more than $1,000 in damage to federal property. Newsmax reported that National Park Service employees witnessed Hearn allegedly pulling up roughly two square feet of the pool's newly applied liner and described him as "belligerent, rude and disrespectful" when told to stop.
Pirro laid out the government's version in blunt terms, as the New York Post reported:
"Our evidence further shows that the National Park Service employees observed Hearn actually forcefully and violently pulling up and removing the bottom liner with both hands."
Hearn tells a very different story. Speaking to the Daily Mail by phone, the three-time Olympian from Bethesda, Maryland, said he merely touched a loose flap of coating out of curiosity, and nothing more.
"It's a completely unfounded accusation. It's a lie. I didn't rip, tear, destruct, destroy, or harm in any way, any part of the reflecting pool."
Hearn went further, claiming the arrest was staged. He said officers appeared ready to detain anyone they found near the pool on any pretext they could manufacture.
"They clearly wanted a news story that they could promote that was centered around vandals damaging the reflecting pool. Officers were ready to arrest me and other people they found who they could have some contrived basis of charges on to accuse them of vandalism."
The indictment does not exist in a vacuum. It arrives against the backdrop of a $14 million Reflecting Pool renovation that has been dogged by embarrassing setbacks since the day it was declared complete.
The renovation wrapped on June 6. Less than two weeks later, the newly refinished coating began peeling. Algae blooms turned the water a vivid green. National Park Service workers hauled out vacuum pumps to scrub the bottom. Crews were seen dumping hydrogen peroxide into the water to beat back the algal growth.
The White House shared photos earlier this month showing the pool looking clear and blue, captioning them: "The water is ON, the Reflecting Pool is reflecting, and DC is looking better than ever." Days later, the algae came back. The administration has since responded with a security crackdown, deploying personnel and escalating enforcement around the site.
Government spending files show the administration paid over $1.7 million to Green Water Solutions LLC last April for "nano bubble" technology. The Department of the Interior said the nanobubbler system had been tested and validated by NOAA, Ohio State University, and the University of Florida. A DOI spokesperson told CNN the algae was merely "residual" and "part of the normal startup process."
The project's cost trajectory tells its own story. President Trump initially projected the renovation would cost $2 million and take one week. It ended up costing $14 million and taking two months.
The New York Times reported that Atlantic Industrial Coating, the firm that lined the pool with polyurea, received a no-bid contract after the administration bypassed standard bureaucratic procedures. Individuals familiar with the project told the Times they worried the renovation did not address buried pipes that often leaked, a structural concern the cosmetic resurfacing may not have solved.
Trump initially said he personally picked Atlantic Industrial Coating after the company worked on a pool at his Virginia golf club. He later said he did not know the contractor and directed all inquiries to the Department of the Interior. Atlantic Industrial Coating told the Daily Mail it has "never done work for President Trump, his companies, or anyone affiliated with him," and stated its initial price for lining the pool was $13.1 million.
A DOI spokesperson defended the selection, saying Atlantic was "the only company that had the expertise, staff, and materials necessary to complete the project in time for major celebrations ahead of our 250th."
Hearn's case is not the only one. Pirro said prosecutors are handling approximately six other related cases involving damage to the Reflecting Pool. National Guard troops have been deployed to the site as arrests have mounted in recent weeks.
A separate court filing revealed that the pool's foam sealant was cut with a "sharp knife or razor" on June 9, and about 70 fence post tops were tossed into the water, as the Washington Examiner reported. That kind of deliberate sabotage, if proven, is a different animal from what Hearn describes.
President Trump posted on Truth Social warning of severe consequences for anyone caught damaging the pool:
"Who would do such a thing? These are very serious crimes having to do with the destruction of National Monuments. Years in jail."
In a longer statement, Trump accused vandals of using "corrosive and destructive" chemicals and knives to stab a "250 foot long gash" into the pool. He added: "We are very proud of what we have done with this magnificent structure, and we will get it repaired, quickly, to an equal level of Beauty." Over the weekend, he acknowledged the pool may need to be drained for repairs after July 4th.
The court filings detailing knife-cut damage lend credibility to the administration's claim that at least some of the pool's problems stem from intentional destruction, not just contractor failure. But that raises the question of whether Hearn, who says he touched a loose flap, belongs in the same category as someone who took a blade to a federal monument.
Fox News reported that Hearn donated to the Democratic fundraising platform ActBlue 10 times and contributed to Barack Obama's presidential campaigns five times. That detail does not prove or disprove the property destruction charge, but it adds a political layer to a case already thick with it.
Hearn's attorneys, Norm Eisen and Mary Dohrmann, issued a joint statement that left no ambiguity about their view of the prosecution:
"This indictment reflects the administration's effort to shift blame for their own failures. On the eve of our nation's Independence Day, Americans should be deeply concerned by the misuse of government power against an ordinary citizen."
They called the charges "outrageous" and said they "should be alarming to every American."
White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers fired back in a statement to the Daily Mail, calling Hearn's conduct "despicable" and dismissing his account entirely:
"It is despicable that after attempting to vandalize a national monument, this deranged individual suffering from a severe case of Trump Derangement Syndrome would disparage the brave men and women who put their lives on the line to protect the public and our nation's capital."
That kind of rhetoric from the White House, whatever one thinks of Hearn, is not the language of a measured prosecution. It is the language of a political operation. And it makes the defense team's argument about shifting blame land a little harder than it otherwise might.
The Reflecting Pool has been a headache for more than one administration. The Obama administration spent over $35 million on a prior repair job; the green hue returned within a month. The Trump administration blamed Obama for failing to keep up with renovations. The Department of the Interior told the Daily Mail: "Unlike under Obama and Biden, the National Park Service is actually maintaining the beautifully completed Reflecting Pool."
Whether that maintenance has been adequate is an open question. The coating peeled within days. The algae keeps coming back. The chain-link fence now surrounding the pool is not exactly the image of a triumphant renovation.
Hearn faces up to 10 years in prison on the felony charge, as Just The News reported. His arrest video showed two National Guard soldiers initially approaching him, followed by four police officers and a third soldier. Hearn identified a law enforcement officer he called Lieutenant Stone as the apparent driving force behind the arrest.
Hearn shared a photo of peeling paint at the pool moments before he was taken into custody. Whether that photo helps or hurts his case will be for a jury to decide.
Several questions hang over this case. What specific statute underlies the felony charge? Are the other six cases Pirro mentioned also indictments, or are they at earlier stages? Did the renovation address the buried pipes that sources told the New York Times frequently leaked? And why did a project initially estimated at $2 million balloon to $14 million with a no-bid contractor?
If someone deliberately slashed the pool's liner with a knife, that person should face the full weight of the law. National monuments belong to every American, and protecting them is not optional. But a 67-year-old former Olympian who says he touched a loose flap of peeling coating is not the same as a saboteur, and a government that cannot keep its own renovation from falling apart within two weeks should be careful about who it calls a vandal.
