Do real, clear images show a person wanted in connection to the "destruction" of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, known as the "Reflecting Pool Dipper"? No, that's not true: The images, while based on real footage, are enhanced with artificial intelligence, and therefore are not reliable in identifying the person in question. The real, blurry footage was posted online by the United States Park Police.
The claim appeared in a post made on Facebook by the account Blue Lives Matter on June 25, 2026 (archived here). The post included clear images of a person standing near and interacting with what looks like the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington, D.C. The caption read:
HELP! US Park Police are looking for the "Reflecting Pool Dipper".
They've released photos asking the public to identify this individual at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool on June 19.
They said it's under investigation as destruction of government property after major damage was found in the new sealant.
Let's help identify who this individual is.
Edit: the best part of this post is the meltdown from the liberals in the comments. We know you're from CA, CT and NY.... but we are still down with paying you Commies to self-deport.
#lawenforcement
This is what the images looked like:
(Image source: Post by Blue Lives Matter on Facebook.)
The images in the Facebook post are AI-enhanced, based on real footage posted by the United States Park Police. As a federal park, the Reflecting Pool falls under the law-enforcement jurisdiction of the United States Park Police (archived here). On June 24, 2026, the USPP posted a notice on its X account asking for the public's assistance in identifying a person "in connection with a Destruction of Government Property investigation" (archived here). The post included distant footage of the person in question.
On June 25, 2026, another account on X, @Bubblebathgirl, posted video clips based on the USPP post (archived here). The caption of the @Bubblebathgirl post, which admitted to enhancing the clips with AI, read:
🚨 Park Police Hunting for the "Reflecting Pool Dipper"
U.S. Park Police have released video and photos asking the public to identify an individual seen briefly reaching into the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool on June 19. They're investigating it as destruction of government property after major damage was found in the new sealant.
The entire interaction lasted only a few seconds.
Have you seen this person or someone who resembles them?
(Video: AI based on released images)
The stills from the video clips posted by @Bubblebathgirl on X are the images used in the Facebook post by Blue Lives Matter (the latter was posted several hours after the former). The graphic below compares the two posts' images:
(Image sources: screenshots taken by Lead Stories of posts by Blue Lives Matter on Facebook and @Bubblebathgirl on X.)
More Lead Stories fact checks related to the Reflecting Pool can be found here.
