U.S. Olympic canoeist David 'Davey' Hearn charged in Reflecting Pool vandalism

[Eugene]

Last edited Thu Jul 2, 2026, 03:49 PM - Edit history (1)

Source: NBC News

U.S. Olympic canoeist David “Davey” Hearn was indicted Thursday on a single count of destruction of property following his arrest last month at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.

Hearn was indicted in D.C. Superior Court on the felony charge.

Hearn previously told NBC News that he was arrested and detained for five hours on June 19 after he touched a piece of the detached coating in the pool. He said he had stopped at the landmark during a bike ride “to satisfy my curiosity as a citizen of what was happening with all the algae and the peeling blue coating.”

Hearn said he did not remove, tear, or destroy any of the coating.

-snip-

Jul. 2, 2026, 2:34 PM EDT
By Ryan J. Reilly, Marco Gacina and Minyvonne Burke


Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/us-olympian-david-hearn-charged-reflecting-pool-vandalism-rcna352788

[PittBlue]

1. I hope they don't order a firing squad.

More insanity everyday.

[sakabatou]

2. Operation Distraction still ongoing

[snowybirdie]

3. Said they have their own witnesses

Likely workers standing and around being paid to lie.

[Martin Eden]

15. Will they testify they saw him with a knife cutting a 300' gash in the middle of the pool

Then pulling up strongly to detach the liner from the bottom?

If not, then whatever the defendant did came AFTER the alleged vandalism.

[Wiz Imp]

16. They lied. There are no witnesses because he did nothing illegal.

[LudwigPastorius]

4. Hearn is facing a 10 year prison sentence because Trump needs a scapegoat for his blithering incompetence.

Kafka couldn't have written it better.

[Wiz Imp]

14. DOJ will lose this case.

It's a pain in the ASS for Hearn but he's not going to be found guilty. Afterwards, he can sue for vindictive pprosecution and probably net a nice sum of money.

[Cirsium]

32. Not at all relevant

First of all, it's a distinctly upper middle class viewpoint to look at catastrophic political and social problems and see civil lawsuits as some sort of solution. here is the right-wing take: "oh, they're trying to sue and cash in." That's what the whole right-wing tort reform nonsense is about. Most people cannot afford to use the legal system to their advantage, and no one should be forced to in response to this sort of abuse of power and persecution of innocent people.

Secondly, the chilling effect on any dissent is what's important here, not whether or not he eventually wins in court. The administration is trying to set an example. Millions of people are now reconsidering what they do and what they say, lest they become victims of this lawless regime.

Next, we have the fact that this administration, like all dictatorial authoritarian regimes, doesn't give a hoot what a court says. So they lose this case, they'll ignore it or they'll go after somebody else.

Lastly, whether or not this particular individual wins in court or not, and whether or not he's able to cash in on some sort of lawsuit, nevertheless, he is suffering today. His life has been disrupted today.

[jgmiller]

5. This is going to be almost as funny a trial as the sandwich thrower one

MSNOW was just showing a split screen of Pirro describing how violent and offensive Hearn was and of video of him talking to the soldiers and the park police very calmly.

[LisaL]

7. I don't think it's funny

for this guy to be charged with a felony.

[regnaD kciN]

9. Nothing funny about a 10-year sentence...

…just because Dear Leader is feeling embarrassed.

And I wouldn’t be too confident about an acquittal, either. Regimes like this don’t stage show trials for “not guilty” verdicts. I’m sure they’ll manufacture as much evidence as they need to “prove” the vandalism.

[onenote]

11. They haven't succeeded in several other cases.

And he's got a very good lawyer.

The statute he's being charged under reads as follows: Whoever maliciously injures or breaks or destroys, or attempts to injure or break or destroy, by fire or otherwise, any public or private property, whether real or personal, not his or her own, of the value of $1,000 or more, shall be fined not more than the amount set forth in § 22-3571.01 or shall be imprisoned for not more than 10 years, or both, and if the property has some value shall be fined not more than the amount set forth in § 22-3571.01 or imprisoned for not more than 180 days, or both."

Typically, convicting someone of the crime of malicious destruction of property requires proof, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the defendant acted with willful intent, not by accident or mistake, with ill will, spite, or a willful disregard of a known risk that the property would be harmed and without excuse or mitigating circumstances.

Pirro is going to have a tough time convincing a jury that someone who saw a floating piece of debris on the reflecting pool and picked it up acted with willful, malicious intent or that the value of the piece of floating debris was $1000 or more. My guess is that they were able to obtain the indictment by claiming that the value of the damage should measured against the value of the entire reflecting pool.

[BarbD]

6. Can they televise the jury trial?

What a spectacle that would be!

[LisaL]

8. He definitely should demand the jury trial.

Don't go with the judge.

[LeftInTX]

12. It's a federal case, so no.

[wiggs]

10. What evidence could they have shown a grand jury? Accurate evidence or misleading evidence? nt

[SergeStorms]

20. Body cam video....

from the "arresting" officer, maybe, but what that would show......who knows? And I'm reasonably sure, if indeed there is video, that it won't be released publicly.

[LisaL]

28. As I recall he was

not touching anything inside the pool when arrested (he says he was away from the pool when approached by police), so I don't think the body cam video can possibly show anything supporting the arrest.

[SergeStorms]

34. Probably not.

But we're talking about Trump's DOI (Department of Injustice) here. With them, anything is possible.

[LeftInTX]

13. Sounds like they were more upset over Hearns attitude than anything.

He used no tools.
Pirro said he used two hands. (Do they have video evidence???)
Two hands could imply pulling and tugging. (Do they have video evidence???) One hand could imply removing a lose piece.

I think this case will be thrown out or he will be found not guilty, unless there is something that I'm not understanding.

At the very worst, he would have pulled and tugged on a pool liner. But is that destruction?

[slightlv]

18. I agree... I think the case will be thrown out in the end...just like with the other cases

similar to it. All the ones where the only "evidence" is rump's vindictiveness on display and pirro's egomania and fantasm of her idol. Those two are so clearly seen through to their very core. But I didn't get one of the answers above... is a jury trial demanded or not because it's a Fed trial? I do hope so. I believe this is one where a jury of one's peers will throw it out at the first possible time.

[LeftInTX]

19. Hearn can decide if he wants a jury or bench trial.

Although it's a "felony"...(cough, cough) .many federal misdemeanors are decided via bench trials. Didn't sandwich guy have a jury trial?

I would opt for jury trial. He's being "overcharged".

Even if he pulled and tugged at the thing, odds are if found guilty of vandalism, he would probably just be fined.

[LisaL]

26. I think he definitely should demand a jury trial.

NT

[LetMyPeopleVote]

17. MaddowBlog-Grand jury indicts former Olympian in Trump DOJ's Reflecting Pool vandalism case

Securing an indictment is one thing; securing a conviction in Washington against an Olympian who touched the Reflecting Pool is something else

It’s one thing for Jeanine Pirro to secure a dubious indictment through the grand jury process.

It’s something else for her to secure a conviction in DC against an Olympian who touched the Reflecting Pool.
www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...

— Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2026-07-02T19:22:02.513Z

https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/trumps-justice-department-indicts-former-olympian-in-odd-reflecting-pool-case

In recent weeks, as Donald Trump’s renovation project at the Reflecting Pool became an embarrassing fiasco, the president settled on a curious strategy to deflect blame. He contended “vandals” had secretly attacked the pool, and it was their intervention, rather than his incompetence, that ruined the Republican’s triumph....

Hearn recently told MS NOW’s Chris Hayes that he’d touched a piece of peeling blue paint toward the end of a bike ride.

“I didn’t think I’d done anything wrong, so I had no reason to think I was going to be arrested … and kind of before I knew it, I was being handcuffed,” Hearn said, adding that he made no effort to tear the pool’s coating.

His lawyer, Norm Eisen, soon after told The New York Times, “It is not a crime in America to touch water.”.....

Evidently, Trump’s Justice Department came to a different conclusion. On Thursday afternoon, U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro, whose recent prosecutorial track record has been as embarrassing as it has been political, announced that Hearn has been charged with one felony count of destruction of property in D.C. Superior Court.

According to the former Fox News host, who said at a press conference that she would not discuss any details about collected evidence, Hearn engaged in a “violent effort” and “willfully destroyed” public property with his bare hands. Pirro added that the defendant, if convicted, faces up to 10 years in prison.....

During the press conference, MS NOW’s Adam Hudacek asked the prosecutor how she squares charging an alleged pool vandal after Trump’s Justice Department pardoned Jan. 6 rioters who caused millions of dollars in damage at the U.S. Capitol. Pirro refused to answer.

Q: How can you square charging this alleged vandal when this DOJ has--


PIRRO: Already this is a problem


Q: Over 1,000 January 6 rioters who caused millions of damage--


PIRRO: Are you really talking about January 6? I'm not. Who's next. Not you! No!

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) 2026-07-02T19:05:50.968Z

Eisen, the defendant’s lawyer, added in a written 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. On the eve of our nation’s Independence Day, Americans should be deeply concerned by the misuse of government power against an ordinary citizen based on a concocted narrative. The justice system exists to determine facts, not to provide political cover.”

I am personally surprised that a grand jury issued this indictment. This case will never get to trial.

[Martin68]

21. Bullshit. It won't hold up in court. Incredibly stupid of the Trump regime. They are desperate to find a scapegoat for

Trump's series of colossal blunders as he fiddles with our sacred public spaces. Trump is the felon.

[LeftInTX]

22. I want to read the indictment!

[BeneteauBum]

23. To be another failed prosecution

This is just undue harassment.

Peace ☮️

[twodogsbarking]

24. He was just helping to remove the paint. It all needs removed so he was helping.

[LisaL]

25. He says he didn't remove anything and I believe him.

NT

[Grim Chieftain]

27. Well, if he gets thirty-three more felonies, he can run for president

On the Republican ticket, of course. What a pathetic, shameful thing to do to this man.

[oasis]

29. Jury nullification is written all over this case.

[LisaL]

30. I don't see why jury nullification should be needed in this case.

Touching peeling paint is an actual felony now?

[oasis]

35. Jurors will have already made up their minds

knowing this case is a joke. The’ll just be going through the motions with the “viore dire”, truth telling process.
It’s likely the jury poll will be from the D.C. area.

[GiqueCee]

31. The magnitude of...

... the Trump regime's evil can only be measured in astronomical terms. Solar units, parsecs, and lightyears. But let's invent a new unit of measure: How about a "Miller"? Now that would cover a LOT of ground!
I wouldn't be surprised if he tried to give Pol Pot a run for his money. Then he could charge admission to the killing fields.
Trump is an out-of-control monster. Do NOT underestimate his capacity for unbridled malice. And DON'T turn your back on him!
On the outside chance you're still on speaking terms with a MAGAt, take any and every opportunity to remind them that they OWN this motherfucker, and they WILL pay dearly for their perfidy, because he is going DOWN, and he is going down HARD.

Oh, and Mr. Hearn's lawyers must skin Trump's goons alive in court.

[NBachers]

33. Waitaminnit - If the pool coating is so flimsy that he can destroy it "with his bare hands" then it's a complete failure

[Bengus81]

36. Tell the guy to start a Go Fund Me for legal expenses......

Raise a million in a couple of hours.....