Former Olympian David Hearn outside Superior Court in Washington, July 9, 2026.
Daniel Heuer | Bloomberg | getty images
Three-time U.S. Olympic canoeist David Hearn pleaded not guilty Thursday to a felony charge of dislodging sealant in the National Mall’s Reflecting Pool in Washington.
Hearn’s attorney later criticized prosecutors for securing an indictment against the 67-year-old and called him a political “scapegoat” for the Trump administration’s controversial handling of the renovation of the nearly 2,000-foot reflecting pool.
“Mr. Hearn has pleaded not guilty because he is not guilty,” attorney Norm Eisen told reporters outside 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 concerned about this prosecution,” Eisen said.
“It is not a crime to touch the water, to touch the reflecting pool, in the United States.”
Hearn’s supporters gathered outside the courthouse holding signs that read, “Trump always blames others for his failures;” “Deflecting Pools: Never Accept Failure;” and “Drop the false allegations.”
Hearn was arrested on misdemeanor charges June 19 after the Bethesda, Maryland resident stopped and entered the Reflecting Pool during a bicycle ride.
Hearn has said that he put his hand in the pool to see how a partially detached piece of blue liner felt from the bottom.
But US Attorney Jeanine Pirro for the District of Columbia claimed she intentionally damaged a 2-square-foot piece of sealant as she announced on July 2 that a grand jury had indicted Hearn on a felony charge of destruction of property.
“National Park staff observed that Hearn was actually forcefully and violently pulling and removing the bottom liner with both hands,” Pirro said at a press conference that day.
The Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool are seen as the stage for the “Salute to America” Independence Day celebration, destroyed by workers on the National Mall in Washington on July 7, 2026.
Kent Nishimura | AFP | getty images
Hearn is accused of causing more than $1,000 in damage. He faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, but is likely to receive a much less harsh sentence if convicted.
“The government’s evidence is weak,” he said. Mary Dohrmannanother attorney for Hearn said during his court appearance, the Associated Press reports. Hearn was not required to post bail in the case.
President Donald Trump has made renovating the Reflecting Pool on the National Mall a top priority of his administration.
The project has been criticized by some for the administration awarding a no-bid contract to a company linked to Trump donors for work on the pool, a new blue liner leaking from the bottom of the pool, and the water turning green with algae.
Trump and government officials have claimed without evidence that vandals tore a tear in the pool’s lining that extended several hundred feet.
A National Park Service official in one filed in court has said that after the renovation was largely completed in early June, the U.S. Park Police discovered that “a cover over the foam sealant” in the pool had been “cut with a sharp knife or razor and the flaky surface material was destroyed.”
Hearn is not accused of using a razor or knife.
“This indictment reflects the administration’s effort to scapegoat Dewey and shift blame for its own failures,” Eisen said outside court Thursday.
“This is a case that should never have been brought forward,” Eisen said. “Davey Hearn is innocent, and we’re going to fight this case and task the justice system with doing the right thing.”
“We will prosecute these issues vigorously,” Eisen said. “We trust our justice system to see this abuse of government power against an ordinary American based on a false and political narrative.”