Multiple Arrests Made at Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool After Vandalism Reports

U.S. Park Police arrested multiple people this weekend after reports of vandalism at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington. Seven people were detained Friday for entering the pool, and additional arrests followed on Saturday.

Journalist Emily Miller posted a two-minute video on X on Friday showing a man in lime-green racing gear being handcuffed by officers. The Washington Post identified the man as David Hearn, 67, a former three-time Olympian charged with misdemeanor destruction of government property.

Hearn told The Washington Post he had just finished a 52-mile bike ride when he noticed a partially detached piece of the new pool liner.

He said he reached into the water to see what it felt like and that the hose may only have been touched by his bike tire. "I didn’t vandalize anything," Hearn told The Washington Post. He added, "I didn’t destroy, break, or peel anything.

Hearn was arrested in 1996 on charges of canoeing on the Potomac River; those charges were later dropped. President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social on Saturday afternoon confirming that Park Police had arrested multiple people for vandalizing the Reflecting Pool. "Years in jail!

Work will begin immediately on its repair," Trump wrote. 8 million restoration project on the Reflecting Pool was completed weeks before the reported incidents. Trump noted on Friday that Park Police had experienced repeated vandalism problems at the site.