The saga of Donald Trump’s $14 million Reflecting Pool renovation just took another turn when he announced that several people have been arrested for ‘vandalism’.
The president announced Saturday that multiple people have been arrested for allegedly vandalizing the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, and that the pool will now have to be drained for repairs.
“The United States Park Police have arrested multiple individuals for vandalizing our Nations magnificent Reflecting Poll,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, correcting his spelling of “Pool” in a follow-up post.
“Who would do such a thing? These are very serious crimes having to do with the destruction of National Monuments. Years in jail!”
Olympic canoeist touched paint and was arrested
One of those arrested was David Hearn, 67, a three-time Olympian and former canoe competitor from Bethesda, Maryland. Hearn says he stopped at the pool on Friday during a 50-mile bike ride, noticed a strip of blue paint peeling away from the algae-covered surface and reached down to touch it out of curiosity.
Park Police arrested him shortly after and held him for more than four hours without allowing him to make a phone call. He has been charged with destruction of government property, a crime that can carry up to 10 years in prison. Hearn denies any wrongdoing.
“I was just a curious, concerned citizen,” he told the Philadelphia Inquirer.
“I guess I was there at the wrong place, wrong time.”
The White House and Park Police did not respond to requests for comment on his arrest.
What’s actually wrong with the pool
The pool was renovated earlier this spring as part of Trump’s effort to spruce up Washington D.C. ahead of the nation’s 250th birthday celebrations and was painted “American Flag Blue.” The makeover was carried out by a company that also works at one of Trump’s golf courses and had been awarded the job without competing bids.
Within days of reopening, the water turned green due to an algal bloom.
Workers were seen this week dumping large quantities of hydrogen peroxide into the water in an attempt to treat it. The blue paint then began peeling off the bottom in large sections, with one gap described as roughly the size of a park bench.
Scientists told NPR they were not surprised, noting that the shallow, sunny pool is an ideal environment for algae growth in summer, and that the renovation may have actually accelerated it.
Trump, however, has maintained that the problems are the result of sabotage, also referencing the discovery of the numbers “86 47” etched into grass near the pool, which authorities have said could be a veiled threat against the 47th president.
In his Saturday post Trump acknowledged the situation had become severe enough to require draining, saying work would begin immediately on “necessary repairs.”
This comes as a minor surprise since he previously said the algae was “75 percent gone” and that the vandalized areas would be fixed early next week.
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