President Donald Trump announced Saturday that federal authorities had arrested “multiple individuals” who he said destroyed Reflecting pool as he struggled to explain why More than $14 million The renovation project he launched to mark the country’s 250th anniversary seemed to backfire.
Trump said his predecessors had the pool turned an algae-stained green and that he would line it with “American flag blue” to better reflect the Washington Monument. But after the inauguration of the new pool, its blue hue quickly turned into a familiar green. Workers treated it with chemicals to kill the algae, but then the blue-painted lining began peeling off at the bottom.
On Friday evening, Trump posted about the pool.
“We have had some real issues with vandalism at the beautiful Reflecting Pool,” he posted on his social media page Friday evening. “Just like three days ago, they destroyed the grass outside the pool and also did everything possible to damage the indoor surface that had just been installed.”
He provided no information to support his claim.
The agencies responsible for law enforcement and maintenance of the National Mall — the U.S. Park Police, the National Park Service and the Interior Department — did not respond to requests for comment. On Saturday, Trump then posted that the Park Police “arrested several individuals for destroying our great Nation’s Reflecting Poll,” and later corrected his spelling to “pool.”
He continued: “Who would do something like that? These are very serious crimes involving the destruction of national monuments. Years in prison!”
One man arrested was David Hearn, 67, of Bethesda, Maryland, who owned a company that made composite materials for building watercraft. He said he stopped by the pool during his 64-mile bike ride Friday to see what was going on.
Hearn, a former Olympic canoe racer, told the Associated Press that he reached into the pool because he wanted to examine the peeling new coating. He said he briefly touched a chunk that was still attached to the side of the pool and then let go of it shortly after a park worker asked him to do so.
But, Hearn said, he was then held by National Guard troops and Park Police for five hours before being released Friday evening.
“I’m a curious citizen,” Hearn said in a telephone interview. “I reached down to see what it felt like. It was very rubbery.”
The Washington Post first reported Hearn’s arrest and he said he has a court date next month and is seeking legal representation.
Even if someone pulled ribbons from the side of the pool, it wouldn’t explain it Algae clouds in green water and streaks of loose blue paint came off the floor.
Trump insisted that something nefarious happened at the crime scene. “Not unlike the chemicals used on the National Mall, they used something similar in the Reflecting Pool to attempt to destroy and demean our beautiful work,” he posted Friday evening.
That was an apparent reference to the discovery of large numbers etched into discolored grass on the National Mall the week before: “86 47.” Authorities said the numbers could have been a threat to Trump, the 47th president. The number 86 can colloquially mean “get rid of”. They investigate.
Trump’s claims came after days of negative attention to the condition of the pool, which had attracted television cameras and curious onlookers.