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A three-time Olympian who stopped by the Lincoln Memorial on Friday to see the newly refurbished Reflecting Pools found himself in handcuffs instead.
David Hearn, 67,was looking at the new ‘American flag blue’ renovation, which President Donald Trump has boasted about, when he noticed part of the blue liner that detached from the pool bottom.
He reached into the water to see what it felt like when he found himself in handcuffs and charged with destruction of government property.
Footage of the incident was quickly spread by conservative commentators, who claimed Hearn was ‘vandalising’ the Reflecting Pool.
Hearn told the Washington Post: ‘I didn’t vandalise anything. I didn’t destroy, break, or peel anything. By the time I realised what was going on, I was being put in handcuffs.’
The former Olympian who competed in the canoe slalom said he reached his hand in the pool and was able to feel the end of the paint piece, which was still attached to the pool bottom.
Trump and other members of his administration have continued to claim that vandals are messing with his ‘magnificent’ Reflecting Pool.
In a post shortly after the footage of Hearn went viral, Trump blamed ‘Radical Left Lunatics’ for vandalising the pool.
After Trump forked out $20 million to refurbish Washington DC’s Reflecting Pools, the iconic landmark is already filled with algae.
The government announced it was fixing leaks in the pool’s granite foundation and coating it with blue paint ahead of the 250th anniversary of the US’ independence.
But after the project was finished earlier this month, it appears to already have some issues – the glaring one being that it’s bright green.