Reflecting Pool case dismissed after DOJ says damage was installation flaw
Federal prosecutors dropped the case against Davey Hearn, saying new Interior Department records pointed to flawed pool installation, not vandalism.
By Frankie Delgado · News Reporter
3 min read
The Reflecting Pool case was dismissed after federal prosecutors said new records undercut the vandalism charge against David “Davey” Hearn, a former Olympic canoeist accused of damaging the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in June 2026.
In a Friday filing, a supervisor in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia said officials had received information that weakened the evidence behind the indictment, according to NBC News. The office is led by Jeanine Pirro.
Prosecutors said the Interior Department provided additional documents after Hearn was indicted. Those records indicated that the damage to the pool came from flawed installation by contractor Atlantic Industrial Coatings, according to the Justice Department filing.
The department said it first learned of information pointing to a faulty installation, rather than vandalism, after reviewing more documents. The filing said that, based on the evidence, it would be difficult to tie the widespread damage to vandalism or prove that claim beyond a reasonable doubt.
Why was the Reflecting Pool case dismissed?
Prosecutors moved to drop the case because the evidence no longer supported the theory that Hearn vandalized the pool, according to the Justice Department filing. The new Interior Department documents instead pointed to a problem with how the pool was installed.
That distinction matters because Hearn had been accused of destruction of property and of causing more than $1,000 in damage. He pleaded not guilty.
Hearn had previously told NBC News that the pool looked the same after he put his hands in the water as it did when he arrived. The filing now places the government’s own explanation elsewhere: on installation work, not on his alleged conduct.
A spokesperson for Pirro told NBC News that the filing spoke for itself. NBC News also reported that the U.S. Attorney’s Office moved to dismiss at least one of three other misdemeanor cases connected to the Reflecting Pool.
The filing identified Atlantic Industrial Coatings as the contractor tied to the installation issue. NBC News did not report a response from the company.
What did Hearn’s lawyer say?
Hearn’s attorney, Steven Levin, blasted the prosecution after the dismissal. In a statement reported by NBC News, Levin said the case “should never have been brought” and accused the federal government of abusing its power by arresting and charging Hearn.
Levin also said the dismissal did not undo what happened to his client and argued that the federal government owes Hearn an apology.
The dismissal marks a sharp turn in a case that began with allegations of vandalism at one of Washington’s most recognizable landmarks. The Justice Department’s new position, as laid out in court, is that the damage is now hard to attribute to vandalism at all.
This story draws on original reporting from NBC News.