By Three-time U.S. Olympian David Hearn has been indicted in D.C. Superior Court after authorities accused him of damaging the lining of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, according to reports.
Hearn, 67, was arrested by U.S. Park Police in mid-June following an incident at the newly refurbished pool. He has denied vandalizing the site.
According to Hearn, he had stopped at the Reflecting Pool after a long bike ride when he noticed the pool’s new coating appeared to be peeling. He said he reached into the water to touch a piece that was still attached to the side, then let go immediately when a park worker addressed him.
“I’m a curious citizen,” Hearn told The Associated Press. “I reached down to see what it felt like. It was very rubbery.”
He later told The Washington Post: “I didn’t vandalize anything. By the time I realized what was going on, I was being put in handcuffs.”
Video of the arrest, filmed by journalist Emily Miller, spread widely online. Reports said Hearn was quickly surrounded by officers and National Guard personnel. Hearn has denied grabbing a hose being used by park workers, though he said his bike tire may have bumped it.
Hearn faces a misdemeanor charge of destruction of government property and is scheduled to appear in court next month. The indictment marks the latest development in the case.
The arrest also drew attention because it was not Hearn’s first legal clash with the U.S. Park Police.
In 1996, during severe flooding on the Potomac River, Hearn was arrested after paddling his whitewater canoe into dangerous waters despite an emergency closure. Officers ordered him to shore and then arrested him for failing to obey a lawful order.
A federal judge later dismissed the charges, ruling that the Park Police lacked jurisdiction over the river, which is controlled by Maryland. The judge also found that Hearn could not be penalized after following officers’ instructions to come ashore on the federal bank.
Hearn comes from one of the country’s most prominent canoeing families. His father, Carter Hearn, was a geologist and lifelong whitewater paddler. His sister Cathy competed in two Olympics in women’s kayak and won three gold medals at the 1979 World Championships. His brother Bill was also a member of the U.S. Canoe and Kayak National Team.
Hearn’s wife, Jennifer, competed on the USACK Women’s National Slalom Team and later served as his full-time coach from 1996 to 2001. She had previously held team management roles, including at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.
Hearn built a decorated career in canoe slalom, much of it defined by a long rivalry with training partner Jon Lugbill. He won silver medals at the World Championships in 1979, 1981, and 1983 before capturing his first individual gold medal in 1985.
He won another world title in 1995 at age 36. After the victory, teammates lifted Hearn and his canoe onto their shoulders. That year, he was named USA Canoe/Kayak Male Athlete of the Year.
Hearn represented the United States at the Olympics in 1992, 1996, and 2000. He also carried the Olympic torch into Washington, D.C., during the relay for the 1996 Atlanta Games.
“It was an incredible honor to be a torch bearer for the Olympics in my own state,” he said on his website at the time.
President Donald Trump addressed the damage to the Reflecting Pool in a Truth Social post, saying “many additional people” had been arrested. He said suspects “took some form of knife or blade, and put a 250-foot-long gash into the beautiful facade of what took so much work, competence, and money to build and complete.”
Trump also alleged that suspects “poured corrosive and destructive chemicals” into the basin.
“It hasn’t looked or worked like this since 1922, when it was originally built, but even then, it leaked badly, and didn’t work,” Trump wrote. “Ours worked perfectly, including the mirror like finish, perfectly reflecting the two Great Monuments, which it never had before! What these terrible Vandals have done is a true affront to both Presidents George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, and should be dealt with accordingly.”
The Reflecting Pool controversy has also become a broader political flash point. In a USA Today opinion column, Nicole Russell argued that Democrats and much of the media have weirdly become obsessed with the Reflecting Pool.
The debate has extended beyond the alleged vandalism itself. Critics have pointed to the pool’s algae, peeling coating and renovation costs as evidence of mismanagement, while defenders of the project have noted that the Reflecting Pool has presented maintenance problems for decades. The dispute has turned a case involving one former Olympian into part of a larger fight over Trump, the media and the meaning of federal efforts to restore landmarks ahead of the nation’s 250th anniversary.
The president recently posted a funny video joking about the Trump Derangement Syndrome that has taken hold across the left.
Hearn maintains he did not damage the Reflecting Pool and was only examining the pool’s condition when the situation escalated.
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