Masters Bike Racer and Triple Olympian Arrested at Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool

A 14 million dollar renovation of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool has been all over the news lately due to spiraling costs, algae issues and a peeling blue liner, and now a cyclist and former Olympian is making headlines.

Artemis Racing club masters racer David Hearn, 67, has been dragged into the controversy after being arrested by U.S Park Police officers Friday.

Hearn, who competed in three Olympics in the canoe slalom event and was twice world champion, was detained on a misdemeanor charge of destruction of government property. He is due to appear in D.C. Superior Court on July 9.

The 67 year old denies the charges.

Hearn told the Washington Post that he was on a 52-mile bike ride and went to the Reflecting Pool to look at the refurbishments. He said that he saw some of the blue liner which had detached from the bottom of the pool and reached into the water to touch it.

He was arrested moments later.

“I didn’t vandalize anything,” Hearn told the Washington Post. “I didn’t destroy or break or peel anything. By the time I realized what was going on, I was being put in handcuffs.”

Conservative journalist Emily Miller posted a video on X showing his detention.

“Man arrested for vandalizing Lincoln Reflecting Pool. He grabbed the hose that female National Park Service workers were using to clear the algae,” Miller claimed.

Hearn told the Washington Post that he never touched the hose, but acknowledged his bike tire may have.

As for the liner, he denied the damage claims. “I reached in there, and I was able to grab the end of that flapping piece, the already peeling piece. It was still attached to the bottom. I didn’t remove anything.”

Trump blames ‘radical left’

President Trump and his administration have been under the microscope over the $14 million renovations, with the White House having initially said it would cost $1.5 to $1.8 million.

Following the posting of Miller’s video, President Trump said on Truth Social that “Radical Left Lunatics” were to blame for “Vandalism at the beautiful Reflecting Pool.”

The Washington Post stated that he has also accused ABC News’ Jonathan Karl of “trying to rip the rubber off of the surface” of the pool.

Multiple media reports have stated that large areas of the liner have been ripping.

Forbes has stated that the peeling occurred a few days after National Park workers poured containers of 12% hydrogen peroxide into the pool to try to get rid of the algae.