Three-Time Olympian Caught Up in Reflecting Pool Controversy That Unraveled the Government's Own Case

A Bike Ride, a Curious Touch, and an Arrest

Three-time U.S. Olympian David Hearn told ABC News that police arrested him after he touched a piece of blue coating partially detached from the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, saying he had stopped during a bike ride as a "curious, concerned citizen" — drawn by his background in materials science and reports of algae and peeling paint.

Hearn said he saw a loose end of the blue coating and reached out to touch it. A National Park Service employee told him to stop, and as he walked back to his bike, National Guardsmen informed him that the Park Police wanted to speak with him. What followed shocked him. "I had no idea I was about to be arrested," Hearn said. "They didn't say they were charging me, but they did start to handcuff me. They did not ever read me my rights. They did not allow me any phone calls for the ensuing five hours, and they did not detail the charges that were going to be leveled against me."

The Olympian said he had stopped at the pool during his bike ride "to satisfy my curiosity as a citizen of what was happening with all the algae and the peeling blue coating," and maintained he did not remove, tear, or destroy any of the coating. "The condition of the Reflecting Pool was the same after I stepped away from the water as it was before I got there," he said.

A $14 Million Renovation Gone Wrong

Since April, the pool had undergone a more than $14 million rehabilitation project — well above the initial cost estimate of under $2 million. A new liner and coating were added in a color Trump called "American flag blue" for the country's 250th anniversary celebrations, but the water turned green with algae instead.

Hearn was indicted on July 2 on a single count of destruction of property in D.C. Superior Court. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro said National Park Service employees saw Hearn "forcefully and violently pulling up and removing the bottom liner" of the pool with both hands on June 19. Hearn, 67, faced a possible maximum sentence of 10 years in prison if convicted of the felony charge. His legal team pushed back hard. Attorneys Norm Eisen and Mary Dohrmann said in a statement: "Davey Hearn is innocent. These charges are outrageous and should be alarming to every American. This indictment reflects the administration's effort to shift blame for their own failures."

Hearn was one of at least four people charged in connection with allegations of tampering with the coating on the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. After his arraignment hearing, one of Hearn's attorneys said "every American should be alarmed by this prosecution" as supporters rallied in his favor.

The Case Collapses — And the Fight Continues

The Justice Department ultimately moved to dismiss the criminal case against Hearn, acknowledging the damage to the pool "was the result of flawed installation by the contractor." Pirro's office said in a filing that it only learned of evidence pointing to "a rushed and flawed installation process" after Hearn had already been indicted by a grand jury.

Documents indicated that damage was not the result of vandalism but the "flawed installation by the contractor and the rush to complete the project prior to events associated with the America 250 celebration." Pirro said factors including rain, wind, and delays in obtaining the sealing product "led to hasty and botched work." The filing concluded: "Given all of this newly discovered information, it is difficult to attribute the widespread damage to the Reflecting Pool to vandalism, let alone to establish that fact beyond a reasonable doubt."

In the days after prosecutors moved to dismiss the case, President Trump railed against Pirro, accusing her of "folding like an umbrella," and repeated his claims that vandals had damaged the lining — contradicting evidence from Pirro's own 20-page legal filing that blamed the peeling lining on "botched installation." White House officials then asked the Justice Department to weigh whether it was possible to bring a new criminal case against Hearn, with discussions focused on whether charges could be brought as a misdemeanor. Hearn has described the experience as "Orwellian" and "Kafkaesque," and his lawyers continue fighting to close the case permanently. For a man who simply reached into a pool out of curiosity, the legal and political storm that followed raises serious questions about prosecutorial overreach — and what happens when government failures need a face to blame.