Overview
- Prosecutors charged David Hearn with felony vandalism after they say National Park Service employees observed him rip about two square feet of the pool’s new blue lining, damage they value at more than $1,000.
- Hearn pleaded not guilty and says he only touched a loose piece while on a bicycle ride; his lawyers call the felony charge disproportionate and say the government is using him to excuse shoddy work.
- The pool was renovated at President Trump’s direction with a roughly $14 million, no-bid contract to a friend of the president, and parts of the new lining began to delaminate after reopening and chemical treatments for algae.
- Several other people arrested at the scene face mostly misdemeanor counts, supporters have raised substantial legal funds for Hearn, and court officials say a trial is unlikely before February 2027 because of caseload delays.
- The dispute raises procurement and technical questions that could affect repairs and oversight of federal monuments, and investigators and courts will now weigh Park Service observations against a plausible non‑criminal cause for the loose lining.