US Olympian indicted after Trump alleged ‘vandalism’ at DC reflecting pool | Washington DC
Three-time U.S. Olympian and kayaker David Hearn was indicted by a grand jury in Washington, D.C., after Donald Trump blamed vandals for damaging Washington’s reflecting pool following a $14.7 million renovation project.
In the indictment, Hearn, 67, is accused of “maliciously” breaking or destroying the lining material at the bottom of the reflecting pool on June 19. Hearn’s lawyers denied the allegations after his arrest, accusing the Trump administration of criminalizing ordinary behavior.
Jeanine Pirro, the US attorney for Washington, D.C., announced the single felony charge against Hearn at a press conference on Thursday, claiming prosecutors had “tremendous evidence” that the Olympians “forcibly and violently” pulled up and removed the bottom liner from the reflecting pool. According to Pirro, Hearn acted “combative” and “disrespectful” when asked to stop by National Park Service employees.
“Today is the day to take responsibility for damaging a national resource, a national treasure,” he said.
Attorneys Norm Eisen and Mary Dohrmann, who represent Hearn, said in a statement that he is innocent.
“These accusations are outrageous and should be alarming to every American,” they said. “On the eve of our nation’s Independence Day, Americans should be deeply concerned about the abuse of government power against the ordinary citizen based on a fabricated narrative.”
The US president has ordered a massive renovation of the site to turn the “American flag blue” during the country’s 250th birthday celebrations this weekend. But just days after its completion, an algae bloom turned the water green.
Trump claimed that a 300-foot “slit” was cut in the sealant installed by contractors during the renovation. Although the president has claimed that the US federal government will release public photos and videos to prove his claims, no such evidence has yet been released.
Hearn was arrested last month on a misdemeanor charge of destruction of government property after he noticed a partially detached piece of the blue liner and reached into the water to see what it felt like.
“I didn’t damage anything,” said Hearn, who was riding a bike. he told the Washington Post the next day. “I didn’t destroy, break or rob anything. When I realized what was happening, I was being handcuffed.”
At the time of his arrest, Hearn had just finished a 32-mile bike ride when he visited the Lincoln Memorial to see its renovated reflecting pool.
Built in 1922, the pool stretches more than 600 feet between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his I Have a Dream speech in front of the reflecting pool in 1963.
Trump has previously claimed that the renovation he ordered for the site would be far more successful than those undertaken under other presidents. His administration signed a no-bid contract with a company that Trump previously said had done work on swimming pools at one of his golf clubs.
