Alleged Reflecting Pool vandal David Hearn pleads not guilty; lawyer calls him 'scapegoat'

Former Olympian David Hearn outside Superior Court in Washington, July 9, 2026.

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Three-time U.S. Olympic canoeist David Hearn pleaded not guilty on Thursday to a felony charge for allegedly ripping up sealant in the National Mall's Reflecting Pool in Washington.

Hearn's attorney afterward blasted prosecutors for obtaining an indictment against the 67-year-old, calling him a political "scapegoat" for the Trump administration's controversial handling of the renovation of the roughly 2,000-foot Reflecting Pool.

"Mr. Hearn pled not guilty because he is not guilty," the attorney, Norm Eisen, told reporters outside of D.C. Superior Court.

"If Mr. Hearn can be charged with a felony for touching the Reflecting Pool, every American is at risk, and every American should be alarmed about this prosecution," Eisen said.

"It is not a crime to touch the Reflecting Pool, to touch water in the United States of America."

Supporters of Hearn who gathered outside the court carried signs, including ones that said "Trump always blames others for his failures;" "The Deflecting Pool: Never admit failure;" and "Drop the Trumped Up Charges."

Hearn was arrested June 19 on a misdemeanor charge after the Bethesda, Maryland, resident stopped at the Reflecting Pool during a bicycle ride and reached into it.

Hearn has said he put his hand into the pool to see what a partially detached piece of blue liner from the bottom felt like.

But U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro claimed he had intentionally damaged a 2-square-foot piece of sealant as she announced July 2 that a grand jury had indicted Hearn on a felony charge of destruction of property.

"National Park employees observed Hearn actually forcefully and violently pulling up and removing the bottom liner with both hands," Pirro said at a press conference that day.

The Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool are seen as the stage for the "Salute to America" Independence Day celebration is dismantled by workers on the National Mall in Washington, July 7, 2026.

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Hearn is accused of causing more than $1,000 in damage. He faces a maximum possible sentence of 10 years in prison, but would likely receive a much less harsh sentence if convicted.

"The government's evidence is weak," said Mary Dohrmann, another lawyer for Hearn, during his appearance in court, The Associated Press reported. Hearn was not required to post bail in the case.

President Donald Trump has made renovation of the Reflecting Pool on the National Mall a top priority of his administration.

That project has been criticized by some over the administration's award of a no-bid contract to a company connected to a Trump donor for work on the pool, a new blue liner peeling from the bottom of the pool and the water turning green from algae.

Trump and government officials have claimed, without evidence, that vandals cut a gash extending several hundred feet in the pool lining.

A National Park Service official in a court filing has said that after the renovation was substantially complete in early June, U.S. Park Police found that "a caulk over the foam sealant" in the pool had been "cut with a sharp knife or razor and destruction of the delaminating surface material."

Hearn is not accused of using a razor or knife.

"This indictment reflects the administration's effort to scapegoat Davy and to shift blame for their own failures," Eisen said outside of the court on Thursday.

"This is a case that should never have been brought," Eisen said. "Davy Hearn is innocent, and we are going to fight this case and entrust the justice system to do the right thing."

"We will litigate these issues vigorously," Eisen said. "We have confidence in our justice system to see through this misuse of government power against an ordinary American based on a false and politicized narrative."