Former Olympian David Hearn Pleads Not Guilty to Damaging Washington's Reflecting Pool

David Hearn, a former Olympic canoe racer, pleaded not guilty on Thursday to damaging Washington’s reflecting pool after a $14.7m renovation project.

Hearn, a three-time US Olympian, was indicted last week on a single felony count of property destruction. He appeared in local superior court in Washington DC to enter the plea after he was criminally charged over the incident in mid-June.

Dozens of his supporters gathered outside the court, some of the carrying placards and banners bearing slogans that included “Free Davey” and “Then they came for David Hearn”.

They chanted “Davey, Davey” as Hearn and his legal defense team, led by the attorney Norm Eisen, emerged from the court after the hearing.

The conflict revolves around the 2,000ft-long (600-meter) pool, a centerpiece of Washington’s National Mall, which had been refurbished with an “American flag blue” liner at Donald Trump’s request as part of the 250th anniversary celebration of US independence. The multimillion-dollar renovation has been plagued with problems, including a bloom of algae that tinted the water green and pieces of the blue lining peeling off.

The former Olympian, 67, ‌is accused of “maliciously” breaking or destroying lining material on the bottom of the reflecting pool on 19 June.

Addressing Hearn’s supporters, Eisen said the case “should never have been brought”.

“If Mr Hearn could be charged with a felony for touching the reflecting pool, every American is at risk and every American should be alarmed about this prosecution,” he said.

Jeanine Pirro, the US attorney for Washington DC, claimed last Thursday that prosecutors had “tremendous evidence” that the Olympian had “forcefully and violently” pulled up and removed the bottom liner in the reflecting pool, totaling more than $1,000 in damage.

But answering questions from journalists, Eisen – executive chair of the Democracy Defenders Fund, a group campaigning on rule-of-law issues – said: “This indictment reflects the administration’s efforts to scapegoat Davey and to shift blame for their own failures … The evidence will establish, as we’ve stated today, Mr Hearn is innocent. It is not a crime to touch the reflecting pool, to touch water in the United States of America.”

The 67-year-old cyclist denied removing anything from the pool, though he acknowledged that his bike tire may have touched the hose that National Park Service workers were using to clear the algae. Hearn’s attorneys have said the charges against him are based on a “concocted narrative” and “should be alarming to every American”.

“I didn’t vandalize anything,” Hearn told the Washington Post. “I didn’t destroy or break or peel anything. By the time I realized what was going on, I was being put in handcuffs.”

Hearn was released on a personal recognizance bond, and the judge ordered a status hearing for 5 August.

The century-old reflecting pool – which sits between the George Washington monument and the Lincoln Memorial – has become an unlikely symbol of Trump’s controversial attempts to put his own stamp on Washington through a succession of building and renovation projects that also include a White House ballroom and a proposed triumphal arch.

Trump has claimed “multiple individuals” have been arrested by park police for vandalizing the pool, although no details have been provided on the other supposed arrests.