Lawyers for the defendant, 67-year-old David Hearn, blasted the indictment as proof of a politicised justice system under US President Donald Trump.
“These charges are outrageous and should be alarming to every American,” Norm Eisen and Mary Dohrmann said in a statement.
The renovation of the pool next to the Lincoln Memorial has been one of Trump’s pet projects to remake the US capital, but it has been dogged by the rapid regrowth of algae and peeling paint just ahead of the 250th anniversary of independence.
On June 19, National Park Service employees observed Hearn “forcefully and violently pulling up and removing” approximately two square feet of sealant from the bottom of the pool and causing more than US$1,000 of damage, US attorney for the capital Jeanine Pirro said on Thursday.
Hearn, a three-time US Olympic canoeist, is one of about a half-dozen people accused of allegedly tampering with the pool, whose troubled, costly overhaul has become a political flashpoint in Washington.
“Today a grand jury has returned a felony indictment against a defendant, David Hearn, for felony destruction of property, for which he faces 10 years in prison,” Pirro, a former Fox News host, told a media briefing.
Pirro vowed to hold to account anyone who damages national monuments and said her office is reviewing about a half-dozen other cases which will be misdemeanours or violations.
The vow of tough action is likely to deepen concerns about the neutrality of the US Justice Department under Trump who had earlier threatened jail time for anyone seeking to damage one of his signature renovation projects.
“On the eve of our nation’s Independence Day, Americans should be deeply concerned by the misuse of government power against an ordinary citizen based on a concocted narrative,” Eisen and Dohrmann said.
Hearn has told US media he visited the refurbished pool after a long bike ride and noticed a piece of partially detached “American blue” paint liner. He reached into the water to see what it felt like, and as he prepared to leave US Park Police arrested him.
“I didn’t vandalise anything,” Hearn told the Washington Post last month. “I didn’t destroy or break or peel anything. By the time I realised what was going on, I was being put in handcuffs.”
The Reflecting Pool is one of several beautification projects in Washington championed by Trump and the painting and sealing project was estimated to cost at least US$14 million.
Soon after completion of the work, the coating began to peel off and algae turned the pool’s water a mucky green – setbacks the president has blamed on vandals, without providing evidence. (AFP)
