Reflecting pool vandalism charges dropped against Hearn, others : NPR

The federal government dropped charges against three more individuals in connection with damage to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, further weakening President Trump’s argument that it was the work of vandals.

Federal prosecutors dropped the vandalism case against former Olympic canoeist David Hearn on Friday, abruptly changing course after arguing for months that he had taken a piece of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool’s new $14 million lining.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. wrote that given newly released evidence from the Department of the Interior, “it is difficult to attribute the widespread damage to the Reflecting Pool to vandalism, let alone to establish that fact beyond a reasonable doubt.” Instead, it blamed a “botched installation” by President Trump’s hand-picked contractor.

As of Monday, NPR has confirmed — with lawyers and court filings — that prosecutors subsequently dropped their cases against the three individuals facing misdemeanor charges. The identical one-page motions did not explain the federal government’s reasoning.

“Anyone who’s read the pleading that was filed in Mr. Hearn’s case would understand exactly why they would have to dismiss against the remainder of those charged,” said G. Allen Dale, an attorney representing one of the individuals, Cameron Thiers.

Hearn, a 67-year-old Maryland resident, was the only person indicted by a grand jury over damage to the reflecting pool, which has become a political flashpoint for the Trump administration’s efforts to reshape Washington, D.C. He pleaded not guilty last month to a single count of destruction of property causing more than $1,000 in damage, maintaining he simply touched a loose piece out of curiosity.

“What the cases have in common is that they’re all charged with destroying the reflecting pool, which the federal government has just paid millions and millions of dollars to have painted and restored in some manner,” Dale said. “And from the pleading the government filed, their own experts and even the Department of the Interior have concluded that no one damaged the reflecting pool. It was improperly installed. It was just bad workmanship.”

U.S. Attorney for D.C. Jeanine Pirro asked for Hearn’s case to be dismissed in a 20-page motion on Friday, which the judge granted. In it, she blamed the Department of the Interior for only recently releasing key evidence, after the grand jury proceedings and following “dozens and dozens” of requests by her office.

Those documents, Pirro wrote, indicate that damage was not the result of vandalism but the “flawed installation by the contractor … and the rush to complete the project prior to events associated with the America 250 celebration in the weeks surrounding Independence Day 2026.”

Based on the Department of the Interior’s documentation, Pirro said factors including rain, wind and delays in obtaining the sealing product “led to hasty and botched work” that was not corrected before the pool was refilled in early June. Within days, algae turned the water green and pieces of the new “American flag blue” lining were seen floating to the surface.

President Trump was quick to contradict Pirro on social media, stating, “I don’t know what she was thinking?”

“There may have been some contractor difficulty, but the major damage was caused by VANDALS!” he posted on Truth Social on Saturday.

The next day, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum pushed back against Pirro’s assessment of the damage, as well as her accusations about his department.

On Sunday, he wrote on X that the Department of the Interior had provided the U.S. Attorney’s office with all the requested evidence, as well as “expert and eyewitness testimony to the damage done by vandals.”

Hearn’s case has been a particularly visible referendum on the Trump administration, prompting supportive rallies outside the courtroom and extensive debates on social media. But he wasn’t the only person arrested over the peeling paint.

President Trump said in late June that “six people have been arrested, and seven people have been cited” for damaging the pool, which had to be drained again after the Fourth of July. Only three of those people, plus Hearn, have been publicly named in court cases and media reports.

Misdemeanor charges for three people dropped

The other individuals involved in vandalism cases haven’t spoken out publicly. But, with their cases now dismissed, their lawyers are starting to paint a picture of the toll the last few months have taken.

Attorney Mark Zaid wrote on X that his client, Justin Carreno, “lost two jobs due to this frivolous arrest.”

According to court filings, Carreno was handcuffed and arrested on June 20 after law enforcement saw him “reach down into the reflecting pool and pull up a piece of the blue paint.” He subsequently pleaded not guilty to a single charge of destruction of property less than $1,000. His case was dropped on Friday, court records show.

“At minimum, he is entitled to [sic] public apology,” Zaid wrote later that day.

Jamison Koehler told NPR that his client, Dr. Sophie Dennison-Gibby, is a D.C.-area veterinarian who was “worried about wildlife.” She was also arrested on June 20, after officers saw her pick up two small pieces of the reflecting pool liner that were floating in the pool, according to Koehler. But he said she had picked up litter, too.

“Of course, the government doesn’t mention the fact that in addition to finding the pieces of the reflecting pool in her purse, they also found trash,” he said. “Because the trash didn’t fit with their narrative.”

Dennison-Gibby pleaded not guilty to a single misdemeanor charge. Koehler says witnesses at the scene took video and provided him with a statement, but he had an unusually difficult time getting in contact with prosecutors to share it.

“I mentioned exculpatory evidence, they had no interest in that,” he said. NPR has reached out to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for D.C. but did not hear back in time for publication.

Koehler said he was resigned that the case would go to trial, until he was notified on Friday that prosecutors had moved to dismiss it. He said there’s always a possibility they could bring the charges back, which makes it risky for his client to speak about it. But he said Dennison-Gibby wants people to know about her experience, which he called “completely humiliating.”

“She’s been fingerprinted, she’s been photographed,” Koehler said.. “She has a mug shot. She’s in the FBI database. And she’s been formally charged with a criminal offense in D.C. This is the president of the United States talking about her case … saying ‘These people will be punished. These people are going to jail for a long time.’ She’s horrified and petrified.”