A former U.S. Olympian is facing a criminal charge after being accused of damaging federal property at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.
David Hearn, a 67-year-old Maryland resident and three-time Olympic canoeist, was arrested Friday by U.S. Park Police after authorities alleged he tampered with material inside the Reflecting Pool in Washington, D.C.
Hearn has denied any wrongdoing, insisting he merely examined a section of liner that had already become detached.
“I didn’t vandalize anything,” Hearn told The Washington Post. “I didn’t destroy or break or peel anything. By the time I realized what was going on, I was being put in handcuffs.”
Video of the incident quickly circulated on social media, showing National Guard members confronting Hearn before U.S. Park Police officers took him into custody. The former Olympian appeared visibly confused during the interaction.
According to Hearn, he never removed any material from the pool or caused any damage to the site. The Reflecting Pool has recently been the focus of maintenance concerns after reports of algae growth and deterioration affecting portions of a newly installed liner.
The Washington Post reported that Hearn spent nearly five hours in custody following the arrest. Court records show he is scheduled to appear in D.C. Superior Court on July 9 on a misdemeanor charge involving the destruction of government property.
A decorated athlete, Hearn competed from the late 1970s through the early 2000s, winning two individual world championship titles and five silver medals at the ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships. He also represented the United States at three Summer Olympics, with his best finish coming at the 1996 Atlanta Games, where he placed ninth.
The arrest came the same day Trump publicly raised concerns about damage at the Reflecting Pool, which recently underwent a $14.8 million rehabilitation project.
“We’ve had some real problems with vandalism at the beautiful Reflecting Pool, which sits between The Washington Monument and The Lincoln Memorial,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “The algae is 75% gone, and the condition will soon be completely remedied, and the area that was vandalized, fortunately, is just a small area of damage, and will be fixed early next week. It’s a shame that the Radical Left Lunatics, most likely Dumocats, who have spent their lives trying to ruin our Country, are free to do so.”
The president also alleged that individuals had recently damaged newly restored areas surrounding the pool and suggested chemicals may have been used to harm portions of the project, drawing comparisons to separate vandalism incidents reported on the National Mall. Trump said repairs were already underway and predicted that both the damage and ongoing algae issues would be addressed by early the following week.