Jul 3, 2026
The Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool saga has hit a new level of theatrics, as a former Olympian was indicted by a grand jury in Washington, D.C., for destruction of property tied to the 338,000 square-foot landmark’s liner.
David Hearn, a whitewater canoeist who represented the U.S. in three summer Olympic games, paid a visit to the pool on June 19, which had just undergone a $16 million renovation for the nation’s semiquincentennial.
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He ended up in handcuffs that day, and on July 2, indicted for allegedly ripping up a part of the pool’s new floor. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro, speaking at a press conference, said, “National Park employees observed Hearn actually forcefully and violently pulling up and removing the bottom liner with both hands.”
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It’s a situation his legal team, which denies the charges, said in a statement “should be alarming to every American,” as, they note, it represents a “misuse of government power against an ordinary citizen.”
Hearn could face a maximum of 10 years in prison if convicted. His legal team added in their statement that “Davey Hearn is innocent,” and Hearn told the Washington Post, “I didn’t vandalize anything.”
Two different stories, one unsightly pool
Hearn claimed that, while, well, reflecting on the pool’s revamp, he noticed a part of the new lining was detaching, so submerged his hands in the water to investigate it. He insisted to the Post he “didn’t break or peel anything” while doing so.
“I was able to grab the end of that flapping piece, the already peeling piece. It was still attached to the bottom. I didn’t remove anything,” Hearn said in an interview with the Post about that day, on which he says he was held by officers for nearly five hours.
But Park Police and President Donald Trump offer a different version of events, saying Hearn is one of multiple people who have vandalized the monument following its facelift — a facelift that has turned into an ordeal after the algae blooms that have historically marred the pool still managed to return shortly following its reopening. Soon after that, the brand new blue liner was spotted flaking off in parts, inviting scrutiny of the quality of the work.
In video footage of his arrest, Hearn can be heard saying, “I think that’s really funny, I think that’s a joke, it’s funny” as he walks away from the pool, presumably speaking of the paint job, of which he took a photo on his phone. While the ensuing conversation between himself and law enforcement is largely overshadowed by background noise, he is told at one point, “You know you’re not supposed to do that.”
The journalist who filmed and shared the clip wrote on X that Hearn at one point “grabbed the hose that female National Park Service workers were using to clear the algae,” part of which led to the charges.
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Other theories on the state of the water feature
Experts have speculated that the new polyurea coating may have been rushed, and thus perhaps not applied properly, ahead of the July 4 deadline. Atlantic Industrial Coatings, one of the companies selected for the job through a no-bid contract, has denied that it was due to poor workmanship and deemed the flaking minor.
There has also been speculation that Trump’s own motorcade driving over the empty pool to see the new color in May could have disrupted the site.
According to a court filing, on June 9, U.S. Park Police found the pool’s sealant had been “cut with a sharp knife or razor,” which they claim destroyed or delaminated the material. The report also states that parts of the metal fence along the pool’s perimeter during the overhaul had been thrown into it.
Not the first expensive Reflecting Pool reno
In 2012, Obama had the pool refurbished for $34 million, which involved a near full reconstruction, including switching water sources and making the pool shallower — which exacerbated the existing algae problem.
Amid all of the hubbub around the pool’s recent issues, another part of the National Mall was deliberately destroyed with what appeared to be an anti-Trump message stamped into the lawn just a stone’s throw away from the Reflection Pool. Messages written in blood were reportedly found on the Washington Monument, and fuel lines to this year’s Great American State Fair may have been intentionally slashed.
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Becky Robertson is a senior staff reporter at Moneywise and a lifelong writer. Along with more than a decade covering news at outlets like blogTO and Quill & Quire, she's attended writing residencies around the world. With 33 countries visited, she finds travel to be among her greatest inspirations.
