A Washington judge has scheduled a September trial for former Olympic canoeist David Hearn, who faces a felony charge for allegedly damaging the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. The site is currently undergoing a troubled, multimillion-dollar renovation project championed by President Donald Trump.
D.C. Superior Court Judge Todd Edelman set the trial date for Sept. 28 during a hearing on Monday. This marked the second court appearance for the 67-year-old Hearn since a grand jury indicted him on a felony count of property destruction. Hearn, a resident of Bethesda, Maryland, previously entered a plea of not guilty on July 9, 2026.
The felony charge against Hearn alleges that he caused at least $1,000 in damage to the historic pool. If convicted, he faces a maximum prison sentence of up to 10 years. In contrast, at least three other individuals have been charged with misdemeanors in the same court for allegedly removing pieces of paint from the Reflecting Pool.
Hearn's defense team, led by attorney Norman Eisen, has formally requested that the court dismiss the case. In a recent court filing, his lawyers argued that the federal government has failed to properly preserve critical physical evidence from the site. The defense's motion was prompted by workers recently draining the pool once again, an action they argue destroys evidence that could prove Hearn's innocence.
"The Constitution simply does not permit the government to charge a man with destroying an object, retain exclusive custody of that object, and then drain, disturb, and alter the object before the defense may examine it, despite a written demand for its preservation. And yet that is what has happened here," Hearn's attorneys wrote in their dismissal request.
The incident in question occurred on June 19, when Hearn was stopped during a bicycle ride. Hearn previously explained that he was detained by National Guard troops and U.S. Park Police for five hours after stopping by the pool. He stated that he reached in to examine the pool's newly peeled coating and briefly touched a chunk attached to the side of the pool, but immediately let go of it when instructed to do so by a park worker.
Hearn, who competed in three Summer Olympics and achieved his best finish of ninth place at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games, has received significant public support. During his July 9 court appearance, supporters gathered at the D.C. Superior Court, including his former coach Bill Endicott and supporter Nadine Seiler, who arrived in an inflatable frog costume.
Hearn and his supporters contend that the prosecution is a politically motivated effort by the Trump administration to deflect blame and find a scapegoat for the renovation's failures. President Trump ordered the pool's renovation ahead of the United States' 250th independence celebrations. While Trump initially suggested the project would cost $1.5 million, the actual expenses have ballooned to over $16 million.
Although President Trump has claimed that vandals are responsible for damaging the pool, critics of his administration attribute the ongoing issues to shoddy repair work.
