“The United States Park Police have arrested multiple individuals for vandalizing our Nations magnificent Reflecting Pool. Who would do such a thing? These are very serious crimes having to do with the destruction of National Monuments. Years in jail!”
Former U.S. Olympic canoeist Davey Hearn has been indicted by a Washington, D.C., grand jury on a felony vandalism charge for an incident at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool on June 19. Hearn claims he only touched a loose piece of the pool’s blue liner while on a bike ride, but Park Police arrested him and held him for five hours; he faces up to a decade in prison if convicted. He is one of at least six people allegedly caught damaging the pool, which turned green from algae after a nearly $16 million renovation ordered by President Trump to paint it “American-flag blue.” Following the arrests, Trump posted on social media praising law enforcement for detaining multiple individuals and warning of severe punishment. Hearn’s lawyer, Norm Eisen, contends his client is being made a scapegoat for the pool’s troubled condition.
- democracynow.org ↗︎06 JUL 2026