By Andrew Goudsward
WASHINGTON, June 25 (Reuters) – The U.S. security apparatus is keeping watch at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, whose blue color has been fouled by green algae after being newly renovated at President Donald Trump’s request.
National Guard troops patrol the area around the roughly 2,000-foot-long (610-meter) basin on Washington’s National Mall in groups of threes and fours. Solar-powered light towers illuminate the area at night and roughly a half-dozen mobile security stations outfitted with surveillance cameras ring the perimeter.
The stepped-up security measures follow a $14.7 million refurbishment of the Reflecting Pool. Trump has blamed dark-of-night saboteurs for the issues with the project. While no evidence has emerged to support Trump’s claim that a vandal cut a 350-foot (107-meter) gash in the pool, a National Park Service official said in a sworn court statement late on Wednesday that on June 9, U.S. Park Police examined apparent intentional damage to the pool.
The damage included “a caulk over the foam sealant that was cut with a sharp knife or razor and destruction of delaminating surface material,” Frank Lands wrote in the statement, which was submitted as part of the Trump administration’s response to a lawsuit challenging the renovation of the pool. About 70 fence post tops were also thrown into the pool, according to Lands.
The increased security presence unnerved Mary Jane Willard, a tourist from Seattle, Washington.
“It’s very sad to come here and see all the fences, to see all the National Guard here, to see all the cameras,” Willard said on Wednesday. “It just shouldn’t be here.”
Three weeks ago, the Trump administration declared victory in completing work to repaint the landmark pool, which stretches from the Lincoln Memorial nearly to the Washington Monument. The color was “American flag blue” for the 250th anniversary of U.S. independence on July 4.
In the days since, the pool has been beset by problems, including blooms of algae, a long-running scourge that has tinted the water a vibrant green, and chips of blue liner peeling off the bottom.
Days before the National Mall will host U.S. 250th anniversary celebrations, the Reflecting Pool has become the latest symbol of Trump’s Washington: a test of his attempts to bend reality in his favor and command law enforcement to his personal whims.
FEW DETAILS ON VANDALISM ARRESTS
Trump has shown a personal interest in the Reflecting Pool project, one of a series of ways he has sought to put his stamp on Washington’s monumental core.
Pressed on the lack of evidence to support his allegations of vandalism, Trump told reporters on Monday, “at the right time, you’ll see it. You’ll see it in court.”
The Department of the Interior said in a social media post on Tuesday that six people have been arrested for alleged vandalism at the Reflecting Pool and seven more were issued federal citations. The department said it is also investigating the “gash” that Trump spoke about, but it has not provided any photos or other evidence to support those claims.
Neither the Department of the Interior nor the U.S. Park Police has disclosed the names of those charged or the offenses they are facing. Neither agency responded to a request for comment on Wednesday.
Local and federal court records show no cases in recent days involving vandalism at the Reflecting Pool. Those arrested may not show up in local Washington, D.C. court records unless the U.S. Attorney’s Office decides to bring a case.
U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro, a Trump ally, told Fox News in an interview broadcast on Sunday that those charged “will face the criminal justice system.”
FORMER OLYMPIAN HANDCUFFED
One of those arrested was former U.S. Olympian David Hearn. Video posted on social media by conservative journalist Emily Miller showed Hearn, who was cycling near the pool, being approached by National Guard troops and later handcuffed by police.
Hearn, in an interview with The Washington Post, denied destroying or removing any property but said he reached into the pool and grabbed a partially detached piece of the peeling pool liner.
“Treating ordinary conduct as criminal diverts attention from the real questions of how this project was managed,” Norm Eisen, a lawyer representing Hearn who has been involved in a series of lawsuits against the Trump administration, said in a statement. “Using the criminal justice system to target innocent people as a form of distraction is textbook authoritarian behavior.”
Hearn is due to appear in local Washington, D.C., court on July 9.
Despite the stepped-up surveillance, the atmosphere near the Reflecting Pool was mostly relaxed on Wednesday as tourists enjoyed a sun-soaked early summer morning in Washington.
“I came down to check it out for myself, but I actually think I was expecting something a little different. It looks pretty good to me,” said Joanna Walling, who was visiting from Merritt Island, Florida. “It doesn’t look like anyone’s out here vandalizing today.”
(Reporting by Andrew Goudsward; additional reporting by Brad Heath, Editing by Michael Learmonth, David Gregorio, Rod Nickel)
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