WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� A former Olympic canoe racer pleaded not guilty on Thursday to deliberately damaging the recently renovated , a politically charged case that his defense attorneys and other Trump administration critics have derided as an abuse of prosecutorial power.
David Hearn, who competed in three Summer Olympics, entered the plea through one of his attorneys during his initial appearance in D.C. Superior Court. Hearn, 67, of Bethesda, Maryland, on a single felony count of property destruction.
In front of a packed courtroom, D.C. Superior Court Judge Carmen McLean did not require Hearn to be supervised by the court while he is free awaiting a trial. A status hearing was scheduled for Aug. 5.
Prosecutor Kevin Reddington said the government wasn鈥檛 seeking any court supervision for Hearn, but just a 鈥� stay-away order鈥� without specifying in court where it wanted to keep Hearn away from.
Mary Dohrmann, one of Hearn鈥檚 attorneys, urged the judge not to impose any conditions of court supervision, calling Hearn an 鈥渦pstanding citizen and member of the community.鈥�
鈥淭he government鈥檚 evidence is weak,鈥� she added.
Dozens of supporters, many carrying homemade signs, gathered outside the courthouse and waited for Hearn to leave after the hearing.
President Donald Trump ordered a multimillion-dollar renovation of the Reflecting Pool ahead of the nation鈥檚 250th anniversary this month, but the project has been plagued with problems. Workers have used chemicals to curtail an algae bloom. Trump has said the pool likely would need to be drained again for after chunks of blue coating were seen floating at the surface.
Trump has that vandals dumped fertilizer into the pool and slashed the coating with a box cutter. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro, the top federal prosecutor for the District of Columbia, said last week that six other people were arrested on misdemeanor charges related to the $16 million pool project.
Hearn’s attorneys have said the charges against him are based on a 鈥渃oncocted narrative鈥� and 鈥渟hould be alarming to every American.鈥�
鈥淭his indictment reflects the administration鈥檚 effort to shift blame for their own failures,鈥� the lawyers said in a statement. “The justice system exists to determine facts, not to provide political cover.鈥�
Hearn previously that he was detained by for five hours after stopping by the pool during a 64-mile bike ride on June 19. He said he reached in to examine newly peeled coating and briefly touched a chunk attached to the side of the pool, but obeyed a park worker who told him to let go of it.
Pirro accused Hearn of causing more than $1,000 in damage by ripping up recently installed sealant from the pool and acting belligerently toward an employee who told him to stop.
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