Olympian indicted for reaching into Reflecting Pool after Trump threatened 10-year jail sentence for vandals

Former US Olympian David Hearn was indicted by a grand jury today (July 2) after he was arrested in Washington, DC, last month following accusations that he had damaged the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.

President Trump spent a whopping $16 million on the renovation of the Reflecting Pool as part of his goal to beautify Washington, DC, ahead of America’s 250th anniversary.

He had the bottom of it painted 'American flag blue', though less than a month after the work concluded, the pool's water has began turning green from algae, while the paint quickly started peeling off.

Writing in anger on Truth Social, the president said: "Who would do such a thing? These are very serious crimes having to do with the destruction of National Monuments. Years in jail."

Hearn has insisted that he is innocent, after pressing in a statement that he did not 'rip, tear, destruct, destroy, or harm in any way, any part of the reflecting pool'.

But a grand jury today found the opposite to be true, after the former Olympic canoeist, 67, was indicted in DC Superior Court on the felony charge.

Footage of his arrest shows the athlete standing by the Reflecting Pool with his bike, before getting approached by two National Guard soldiers.

In a statement to the Daily Mail, White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers responded to Hearn's claims, and wrote: "It is despicable that after attempting to vandalize a national monument, this deranged individual is suffering from a severe case of Trump Derangement Syndrome."

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