U.S. Olympian David Hearn to be arraigned on charges in Reflecting Pool vandalism case

U.S. newsU.S. Olympian David Hearn to be arraigned on charges in Reflecting Pool vandalism caseHearn is one of at least four people facing charges for allegedly tampering with the coating on the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, which President Donald Trump began renovating this spring.Listen to this article with a free profile00:0000:00Workers clean algae from the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington, D.C. on June 17.Aaron Schwartz / Bloomberg via Getty ImagesShareAdd NBC News to GoogleJuly 9, 2026, 8:02 AM EDTBy Gary Grumbach, Rebecca Cohen and Ryan J. ReillyWASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Olympic canoeist David “Davey” Hearn is set to be arraigned Thursday on charges after being indicted in connection with alleged damage to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. Subscribe to read this story ad-freeGet unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.Hearn will be arraigned in D.C. Superior Court after a grand jury indicted him on a single count of destruction of property after he was accused of causing more than $1,000 in damage to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. He is among at least four people facing charges for allegedly tampering with the pool, which President Donald Trump began renovating this spring.Before court, supporters of Hearn’s will rally in his favor. U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, Jeanine Pirro, alleges Hearn was seen “forcefully and violently pulling up and removing the bottom liner” of the pool with both hands on June 19. Hearn’s legal team says he is innocent and calls the charges “outrageous.”Hearn previously told NBC News that he was arrested and detained for five hours last month after he touched a piece of the detached coating in the pool. The Olympian said he had stopped at the 2,030-foot-long Reflecting Pool during a bike ride “to satisfy my curiosity as a citizen of what was happening with all the algae and the peeling blue coating.”But Hearn maintained he did not remove, tear or destroy any of the coating.“T...