Aug. 3 (UPI) — Prosecutors in Washington, D.C., have moved to dismiss charges against three more people whom the government had accused of vandalizing the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.
This comes after U.S. attorney Jeanine Pirro — who is now dealing with escalating criticism from Trump — abruptly dropped the felony charges against former Olympian David Hearn on Friday. The government had accused Hearn of vandalizing the pool, with a grand jury indicting him July 2. Prosecutors claimed he purposefully ripped up a piece of the recently installed blue sealant.
The reflecting pool cost about $15 million for the government to renovate this year. Not long after its completion, an overgrowth of algae turned the water green and pieces of the blue lining started to float to the surface. Hearn said that he had reached in to touch a piece when he was arrested.
Hearn was the only one to face felony charges, and the three cases also dropped involved misdemeanor charges. They were against Justin Carreno, Sophie Dennison-Gibby and Cameron Thiers, all charged with destruction of property less than $1,000.
Thiers’ attorney, G. Allen Dale, said prosecutors told him in an email of their intent to drop the charges.
“Mr. Thiers and I are both very happy this case is over,” Dale said to The New York Times. “It probably shouldn’t have been brought in the first place. At least this nightmare is over for him.”
Jamison Koehler, a lawyer for Dennison-Gibby, said his client was “relieved” but that he considers it possible charges could be filed again.
“This administration is so petty and manipulative, there is always fear that they might,” Koehler told The Times.
Trump said on June 23 that authorities had arrested six people (and cited seven more) for vandalism of the pool, claiming that the damage was done by “a very sharp knife or razors.”
Pirro, in dropping the charges against Hearn, said that the damage was caused by a “botched installation” and that she was misled by the Department of the Interior into believing “nearly all of the damage” was done by vandals.
Trump criticized Pirro extensively this weekend for dropping the charges against Hearn, continuing Monday to complain to reporters at the White House during an unrelated event.
“I was disappointed in Jeanine Pirro,” Trump said, CBS News reported. “Really disappointed in Jeanine Pirro. She folded like an umbrella.
“Frankly, I think she choked … I guess she choked. I don’t know what the hell happened.”
The president then snapped at another reporter who asked if he was reconsidering Pirro’s role at U.S. attorney.
The government drained the reflecting pool to fix the peeling liner and the algae issue, and it has not yet been refilled.
