A grand jury in Washington DC has indicted three-time US Olympic canoeist David Hearn, as reported by The Guardian, following claims from the US President Donald Trump that vandals damaged the city’s reflecting pool after a $14.7 million renovation.
The indictment charges Hearn, 67, with a single felony count tied to breaking or removing lining material from the pool floor on June 19. His attorneys have denied the allegations and say the administration is prosecuting normal conduct as a crime.
Prosecutor cites ‘tremendous evidence‘
US Attorney for DC Jeanine Pirro announced the single felony charge at a press conference Thursday, telling reporters that prosecutors had strong evidence that Hearn had forcefully removed the pool’s bottom liner and had been uncooperative with National Park Service staff who asked him to stop, the Guardian reported.
Pirro said the case was “about accountability for damaging a national resource, a national treasure.”
Hearn’s attorneys, Norm Eisen and Mary Dohrmann, said in a statement reported by the Guardian that the charges were alarming and reflected a troubling use of government power against an ordinary citizen.
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Renovation turned controversial after algae bloom
The renovation was ordered by Trump to give the pool a blue tint ahead of the country’s 250th anniversary celebrations. Shortly after completion, an algae bloom turned the water green. Trump has since alleged a 300-foot tear was cut into the pool’s sealant, though the administration has not released the photo or video evidence it said would support that claim.
Hearn was originally arrested last month on a misdemeanor charge after he reached into the water to touch a loose section of liner.
“I didn’t vandalize anything,” Hearn, who had been cycling, told the Washington Post the following day. “I didn’t destroy or break or peel anything. By the time I realized what was going on, I was being put in handcuffs.”
He had just completed a 52-mile bike ride and stopped to view the renovated pool, as reported by The Guardian.
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The reflecting pool, completed in 1922, stretches roughly 2,000 feet between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument. It was the site of Martin Luther King Jr.’s 1963 “I Have a Dream” speech.
The renovation contract was awarded without competitive bidding to a company Trump said had previously worked on pools at one of his golf properties.
