A former US Olympian arrested for allegedly vandalising the Reflecting Pool in Washington DC is denying he did anything wrong. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing BBC News.
David "Davey" Hearn, 67, was detained by the pool's edge on Friday as he was finishing a long bike ride. Hearn told BBC News that he had removed his cycling glove to simply touch a long strip of rubbery material which appeared to have "delaminated" from the bottom of the pool, when he was stopped by US Park Police and National Guard troops.
The champion canoeist is now facing a misdemeanour charge of destruction of government property. The Reflecting Pool has just undergone a multi-million dollar resealing and painting project, but already the paint appears to be peeling off.
President Donald Trump has championed the pool's makeover as part of his bid to beautify the US capital ahead of America's 250th birthday celebrations. The historic Reflecting Pool, stretching 2,030ft (619m) between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument, has long been beset by leaks, structural deterioration, faulty pipes, algae growth and bird droppings.
But despite the refurbishment, which cost an estimated $13m (£9.8m), the pool has continued to be plagued by algae and more recently the paint problems. 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," he continued.
Hearn told BBC News that he "didn't destroy, rip, tear, peel, or remove any part" of the paint. "The condition of any part of the reflecting pool didn't change," he insisted. He called his arrest an "arbitrary, capricious prosecution".
A video posted to social media of Hearn's arrest shows him standing near a water-pumping hose that is lying across a footpath and speaking to a woman, before walking away and picking up his bike. He is then approached by two National Guard troops, and the video shows that he was later placed in handcuffs. The post includes a suggestion that he had grabbed the hose from one of the park workers, though Hearn denied this.
Hearn competed three times in the Olympics in the slalom canoe category, and won two world championships for the sport. He has also designed boats, paddles and other waterproof products. The 67-year-old said he only touched the material briefly before he was told by one of the park service workers to stop.
Hearn said he was placed in handcuffs and detained for about five hours in jail, and was not allowed to make a phone call. "It's pretty clear that somebody high up decided to make an example of me," Hearn continued. He said that even with the problems, the Reflecting Pool was "really pretty".
The state of the Reflecting Pool has made headlines repeatedly in recent weeks, as the Trump administration awarded no-bid contracts to vendors for the project. The president promised a "beautiful, beautiful reflecting pool" that would "stay clean", and he selected the "American Flag Blue" paint colour himself. He said on Friday that the "algae is 75% gone, and the condition will soon be completely remedied". In later posts on Saturday night, Trump claimed, without evidence, that vandals had "poured corrosive and destructive chemicals into the Pool" and that damage to the lawn was done with "some form of knife or blade".