Five people, including former Olympian David Hearn, were arrested for allegedly touching the reflecting pool, which has now caused quite a stir.
The news arrives amid President Trump’s tweet that the pool had been vandalized by people and will thus need to be drained and refilled again, despite the recent renovation work.
The pool cost more than $14.65 million to renovate, but the algae problem continues to peel the American flag blue paint off the floor.
Hearn revealed that he didn’t vandalize anything and that the officer gave no explanation while arresting him. The arrests stem from allegations that some individuals interacted with sections of the pool’s damaged liner, which has been peeling despite the recent renovation project. Critics, however, argue there is little public evidence that those arrested caused any damage to the structure.
ICE and the National Guard Patrol the Pool
According to an Instagram post by More Perfect Union, the paint has been peeling off from the pool’s floor despite the expensive renovation, and five people have been arrested for allegedly “damaging” the pool. ICE and the National Guard have been spotted patrolling the pool.
However, the post claims that there is no evidence that supports the claim that the five suspects vandalized the pool. One of them was Hearn, who was detained for five hours on June 19 for allegedly touching a piece of the detached liner.
He was on a bike ride and went to check on the pool out of curiosity, considering his background in materials science. He told ABC News:
“I saw a piece of this loose end of this blue coating … I reached out and touched the end of that piece that was loose but still attached to the bottom.
“I was able to reach out and touch the edge of that that was still attached at the bottom and handled it a little bit.”
He added:
“I did not remove, I did not damage, I did not rip, tear, break, destroy or harm any part of the Reflecting Pool.
“The condition of that part and all other parts of the Reflecting Pool were in the same condition after I walked away as they were before I walked up to it.”
A National Park Service employee told Hearn to stop touching it before he began walking back toward his bike. That was when National Guardsmen told him that the Park Police wanted to talk to him. Hearn said:
“I had no idea I was about to be arrested. They didn’t say they were charging me, but they did start to handcuff me. They did not ever read me my rights. They did not allow me any phone calls for the ensuing five hours, and they did not detail the charges that were going to be leveled against me.”
The Olympian, who represented the U.S. in canoeing, emphasized that he was “fully cooperative” with the authorities and did not resist arrest. When asked if he was worried about what would happen next, he said:
“I am concerned. I’m very wary of our current government; I’m a single citizen being singled out in this way by my government. It’s not fair, and it’s not right.”
However, he is confident of having support. He said:
“I have several very respectable law firms who are offering to provide pro bono counsel, and we will be vigorously defending against these charges.”
Hearn is set to appear in court on July 9.
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President Trump Calls It Vandalism
Trump said in a post on Truth Social on Saturday that US Park Police had “arrested multiple individuals for vandalizing our Nations magnificent Reflecting Pool”.
“Who would do such a thing? These are very serious crimes having to do with the destruction of National Monuments.”
“Work will begin immediately on its repair,” he added.
ABC News revealed that Trump’s claims were not backed by evidence of the vandalism. Trump also said in the post that “corrosive and destructive chemicals” were poured into the pool.
“They took some form of knife or blade, and put a 250 foot long gash into the beautiful facade of what took so much work, competence, and money to build and complete,” he added.
An administration official confirmed that as of Saturday night, five people had been arrested, and five others were handed citations. In addition, 14 police reports had been filed for the alleged vandalism.
Lock the vandals up. Ten years sounds about right.