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Former U.S. Olympian David Hearn pleaded not guilty on Thursday to a charge alleging he damaged the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.
Hearn appeared before Judge Carmen McLean in D.C. Superior Court for his arraignment on a felony destruction of property charge.
The judge released him on a personal recognizance bond and ordered a status hearing for Aug. 5.
The three-time Olympic canoeist was indicted by a grand jury on July 2 after prosecutors said he “forcefully and violently” ripped up the bottom liner of the Reflecting Pool, causing more than $1,000 in damage.
Hearn has denied the allegations, telling The Washington Post shortly after his arrest last month that he “didn’t vandalize anything.”
His attorneys, Norm Eisen and Mary Dohrmann, have accused federal prosecutors of attempting to “provide political cover” for the Trump administration after a botched renovation of the landmark.
Hearn is among at least half a dozen individuals accused of vandalizing the pool, which has been peppered with green algae and chips of peeling paint since the administration’s $14 million overhaul in June.
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