Cyclist arrested at Reflecting Pool is former Olympian who denies vandalism claims

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: Washington Post

June 20, 2026 at 1:52 p.m. EDT


David Hearn had just finished a loop around Hains Point on Friday as part of a 52-mile bike ride when he swung by the Lincoln Memorial to see the refurbished Reflecting Pool for himself. Noticing a piece of the new “American flag blue” liner that was partially detached from the pool bottom, Hearn said he reached into the water to see what it felt like.

Moments later, as the Bethesda man prepared to leave, U.S. Park Police officers arrested him on a misdemeanor charge of destruction of government property. He is scheduled to appear in D.C. Superior Court on July 9. Hearn’s arrest ignited a social media flurry as President Donald Trump and his allies blamed the pool overhaul’s problems on administration opponents.

Emily Miller, a conservative journalist, posted a 2 minute and 8 second video on X, which showed Hearn detained by two members of the National Guard and subsequently surrounded by Park Police officers. “Man arrested for vandalizing Lincoln Reflecting Pool. He grabbed the hose that female National Park Service workers were using to clear the algae,” wrote Miller, who confirmed via text that she had filmed the encounter but declined to speak on the record.

In an interview Saturday, Hearn, 67, denied damaging government property and said he had never touched the hose, though he acknowledged that his bike tire may have. “I didn’t vandalize anything,” Hearn said. “I didn’t destroy or break or peel anything. By the time I realized what was going on, I was being put in handcuffs.”

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2026/06/20/cyclist-arrested-reflecting-pool-denies-trump-vandalism-claims/

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No paywall (gift)

[mahatmakanejeeves]

1. Go ahead, Jeanine; make my day. NT

https://www.teamusa.com/profiles/david-hearn

https://www.daveyhearn.com/

https://iwhof.org/honoree/davey-hearn/

[underpants]

8. 8 time world champion

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Hearn_(canoeist)

[underpants]

12. They might have charged him with a misdemeanor to keep her out of it

This was everywhere yesterday on MAGA Twitter. I see that even the water hose part of the story is BS.

[FalloutShelter]

2. So now they need to frame some innocent citizen

to make their lie stick. Why? So the Orange stain can save ...what? FACE?"

These fascists are not going to be satisfied until we are chasing them down the streets.

[tonekat]

5. ...and burning their businesses to the ground

That's all they understand.

[KS Toronado]

31. dumpie needs someone to blame other than the contractor

so he can use taxpayer money to pay greenwater again and get his 20% kickback.

[dem4decades]

3. Hopefully an anti Trump lawyer comes to his defense.

Discovery should be worth the price of admission

[muriel_volestrangler]

4. So U.S. Park Police officers are as dumb and fascistic as ICE, then?

So many people who need a permanent "do not employ" note on their résumé.

[Miguelito Loveless]

9. ACAB

They have badges, they are cops, they are bastards.

[cab67]

13. I've worked with plenty of National Park Service personnel.

Including the police.

These particular Park Service officers are an outlier. I've generally found them to be helpful and sane.

[Vinca]

6. This is just stupid. Hope the judge just dismisses it.

[Baitball Blogger]

7. Trump refuses to accept blame for anything he does.

He always needs a fall guy.

[Attilatheblond]

22. And since he can't stick the algae problem on JD....

[jls4561]

10. When Todd Blanche comes up with a compensation fund for those persecuted by this Just-us Department, Mr. Hearn and

The sandwich guy should be the first persons paid.

I’m not holding my breath.

[cab67]

11. What difference to the reflecting pool would it have made....

...if he actually had grabbed the hose?

I highly doubt that he did, but even so - grabbing a hose would have been a weak effort to sabotage the Park Service's efforts, no matter what was being poured in,

[chia]

14. They needed a scapegoat. Now, MAGa social media will amplify it and IT WILL NEVER GO AWAY.

Ten years from now, they'll still be blaming it on "the left."

[PatSeg]

17. "A misdemeanor charge of destruction of government property"?

It is Trump who should be charged with "destruction of government property" many times over.

Meanwhile, all they've done was to call more attention to the Reflecting Pool disaster.

[Attilatheblond]

23. Yeah, bike riding Olympian was no where near the East Wing the day THAT went down.

[PatSeg]

27. Oh well

With Trump, there is always plenty of blame to go around, as long as HE is never held accountable. I've never seen anything quite like it.

[Callie1979]

33. tell me about it. Every time too. nt

[PatSeg]

34. It is mindboggling

Apparently there is a lifetime of conditioning to always, always deflect the blame to someone else. It gives you a glimpse into what kind of childhood he experienced.

[Attilatheblond]

40. And why his parents sent him off to a boarding school

[PatSeg]

42. I was thinking the same thing

It is easy to picture what kind of unruly, undisciplined child he was.

[Stargazer99]

24. Now you figured it out-they got to play the common man into believing their gas lighting

[LisaL]

15. He should demand a jury trial.

NT

[Maru Kitteh]

28. YES! nt

[IronLionZion]

16. Their orders were to arrest anyone, so anyone nearby will do

Workers were ordered to dump lots of hydrogen peroxide in the water, which peels paint. But since paint is peeling, then it must be vandalism.

On a bicycle. Because everyone knows that's how vandals roll.

[hadEnuf]

18. Trump decided to call it vandalism because he frigged it up so bad.

So of course the lying scumbag MAGA right jumps right on that band wagon. Then they find some poor bastard riding by to blame it on. This is something out of a dystopian science fiction novel.

[twodogsbarking]

19. But destroying The Capitol and tearing down the White House is ok? It would seem.

[Martin68]

20. Hysteria rules, the Trump regime is totally nuts.

[H2O Man]

21. Recommended.

[purr-rat beauty]

25. Um...the damage is what trump did to it

[Bengus81]

26. KICK this BS UP!!

[liberalgunwilltravel]

29. In the 80s and 90s I used to white water paddle

On the Youghiogheny River almost every weekend from March to September. Many times, the entire Hearn family would be there paddling. It was incredible watching the things David could do in his boat. I hope this blows up in the fascists faces so hard that they never have another day of peace.

[Aussie105]

30. Give it up cretins!

Don't blame any problems with the reflecting pool on any passers by who get too close.

Accept you have totally ruined it instead.

Some suggestions for the Donald Trump memorial Green Lake:

1. Fence it off to keep 'vandals' away.

2. Fill it with water lilies and fish.

3. Drain it and start again.

4. Fill it in and make it a picnic area, kids' playground, whatever.

[Don1]

32. It looks like I was wrong about Trump

The other day my wife and I were watching television and a reporter was showing a broken piece of the bottom of the reflecting pool.

I said to my wife, "Uhoh. That reporter is going to get arrested and they will blame him for vandalism."

Apparently, they blamed an innocent cyclist instead.

So I was wrong.

[Zafira Cherry]

35. God is punishing Trump and his voters

God is punishing Trump and doing bad things to the water. Drain it. The next President, this won't be a problem.

[DinahMoeHum]

36. Another example of standing on a brick. . .

. . .to kick a duck in the ass.

[LudwigPastorius]

37. You must acknowledge that the emperor is wearing a beautiful and fine outfit, instead of being naked, or...

you will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

[Renew Deal]

38. Take it to court

if a judge doesn't throw it out.

[choie]

39. So we got a false flag here, huh?

[truthisfreedom]

41. Must. Play. Victim.

Cannot be failure. Democrats must pay!