Former Olympian Charged After Touching Reflecting Pool
David Hearn was finishing a long bike ride past the Lincoln Memorial Friday when he noticed a piece of blue lining coming loose from the bottom of the Reflecting Pool.
He reached in to feel it. Within minutes, US Park Police had him in handcuffs.
A Three-Time Olympian, Not the Cyclist Some Reports Suggest
Hearn, 67, of Bethesda, Maryland, is a three-time Olympic canoe slalom racer who competed for Team USA between 1992 and 2000, according to his official Team USA profile. The bike ride that brought him to the pool that day was simply exercise, not his sport.
He owns a company that manufactures composite materials used to build watercraft, according to The Associated Press.
Hearn told the AP he reached into the pool to examine the peeling coating, briefly touched a chunk still attached to the side, then let go after a park worker asked him to.
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What He's Charged With, and What He Denies
US Park Police arrested Hearn Friday on a misdemeanor charge of destruction of government property.
"I can tell you that no, I didn't take anything away," Hearn told WUSA9. "There wasn't any part of that that was damaged by my hand."
He says he was detained at Hains Point for roughly five hours without access to a phone before being released Friday night. He's scheduled to appear in DC court on July 9.
Hearn says he has since received death threats and feels he's being made a political example, given the high-profile nature of the renovation.
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Intensify
The Renovation Behind the Controversy
The arrest comes amid a wider, $14.65 million renovation of the Reflecting Pool that President Trump ordered repainted in "American flag blue" ahead of the country's 250th anniversary in July.
According to The Hill, the Department of the Interior awarded the job through a no-bid contract to Atlantic Industrial Coatings, a Virginia firm whose previous work included pools at one of Trump's own golf properties.
Within roughly two weeks of completion, the new coating began peeling from the pool floor on its own, while a separate algae bloom turned the water green despite treatments of hydrogen peroxide and ozone nanobubbles.
Trump posted on Truth Social Friday evening calling the situation vandalism, also referencing a separate incident in which the numbers "86 47" appeared cut into the grass nearby. He said federal authorities had made multiple arrests over the "destruction" of national monuments.
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Why the Framing Matters
Multiple outlets that visited the pool independently, including ABC News and The Hill, documented the coating peeling on its own well before Hearn's arrest — raising the question of how much of what's being labeled vandalism is actually material failure from the renovation itself.
That distinction matters for Hearn's case specifically, since his account centers on touching a piece that was already detaching, not removing or damaging anything intact.
Key Takeaways
- David Hearn, 67, a three-time Olympic canoe slalom racer from Bethesda, Maryland, was charged with destruction of government property after touching peeling paint at the Reflecting Pool.
- He says he only touched a loose piece and denies taking or damaging anything.
- He was detained roughly five hours at Hains Point and is due in court July 9.
- The pool's $14.65 million renovation has been plagued by paint peeling off on its own and a recurring algae bloom.
- President Trump called the situation vandalism in a Truth Social post and said multiple arrests had been made.
Sources
- WUSA9 — Bethesda Man and Former Olympian Arrested for Taking Paint From Reflecting Pool — June 21, 2026
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Politics & World News Editor
James Mitchell has covered US and UK politics for over a decade, with a focus on elections, foreign policy, and Capitol Hill. He breaks down complex political stories into clear, fast analysis.
