David Hearn Faces a Federal Vandalism Charge Over the Reflecting Pool

On June 9, National Park Service crews reported serious damage to the newly renovated Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool — caulk cut with a "sharp knife or razor," delaminating liner material destroyed, and roughly 70 fence post tops thrown into the water. Within weeks, seven people had been arrested and a federal grand jury indicted former Olympic canoeist David Hearn on a felony destruction-of-property charge. Hearn said he'd only stopped his bike to feel a loose piece of the pool's new liner.

The physical evidence didn't hold up the way the indictment assumed it would. A biologist consulted by PBS called the theory that vandals dumped fertilizer to trigger the pool's algae bloom "absolutely impossible" given how quickly it appeared. On July 31, the U.S. Attorney's office — led by Jeanine Pirro, a Trump appointee — moved to drop the Hearn case entirely, telling the court it was "difficult to attribute the widespread damage to the Reflecting Pool to vandalism...beyond a reasonable doubt," and pointing instead to a botched contractor installation.

President Trump rejected that finding the next day, without offering new evidence, saying he disagreed "100%" with his own U.S. Attorney and that "the major damage was caused by VANDALS!" The felony case against Hearn, however, is over.