On Friday, three-time U.S. Olympian David Hearn went for a bike ride and stopped at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool — a $14.65 million renovation project paid for with national park entrance fees that has already become a national embarrassment, covered in algae and peeling blue paint within days of completion.

Hearn, who has a background in materials science, touched a piece of the blue coating that was already loose and partially detached from the bottom of the pool. He did not remove it. He did not damage it. He did not rip, tear, break, or destroy anything. The pool was in exactly the same condition when he walked away as when he walked up.

He was handcuffed. Held for five hours. Never read his rights. Never allowed a phone call. Never told what charges were being leveled against him. He has a court date on July 9.

President Trump has claimed without evidence that vandals poured corrosive chemicals into the pool and cut a 250-foot gash into the lining — and is using those claims to justify arresting curious citizens who simply stopped to look at a failing, taxpayer-funded renovation that should never have been built in the first place.

David Hearn is a decorated American athlete who served his country at three Olympic Games. He touched a piece of already-peeling paint on a publicly accessible national monument. That is not vandalism. Arresting him for it is an abuse of power.

We're calling on the Department of Justice and the National Park Service to immediately drop all charges against David Hearn and every other person arrested for exercising their right to observe and document a publicly funded monument.