Olympian pleads not guilty in Reflecting Pool case...

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Hearn, who competed in three Summer Olympics, entered the plea through one of his attorneys during his initial appearance in D.C. Superior Court.

Hearn, 67, of Bethesda, Maryland, was indicted last Thursday on a single felony count of property destruction.Before the country's 250th independence celebrations, President Donald Trump launched a multimillion-dollar renovation project for the pool, which was plagued by problems including damage to its new coating. Trump, without providing evidence, has alleged the damage was caused by vandals.

Hearn has said he reached inside the pool to examine the peeled sealant and let go of a chunk when he was told to by a park worker. He is accused of causing more than $1,000 in damage."Every American should be alarmed about this prosecution," defense attorney Norm Eisen said after the hearing.

"It is not a crime to touch the Reflecting Pool."U.S.

Attorney Jeanine Pirro, the top federal prosecutor for the District of Columbia, said vandalizing the nation's monuments and public spaces is "an affront to our shared history.""The law applies equally to everyone, and when it is broken, there are consequences," she said in a statement on Thursday.In front of a packed courtroom, D.

C. Superior Court Judge Carmen McLean did not require Hearn to be supervised by the court while he is free awaiting a trial. A status hearing was scheduled for Aug.

5.Prosecutor Kevin Reddington said the government wasn't seeking any court supervision for Hearn, but just a " stay-away order" without specifying in court where it wanted to keep Hearn away from.Mary Dohrmann, one of Hearn's attorneys, urged the judge not to impose any conditions of court supervision, calling Hearn an "upstanding citizen and member of the community.""

The government's evidence is weak," she added.Dozens of supporters, many carrying homemade signs, gathered outside the courthouse and chanted "Davey!" as Hearn left after the hearing.

Hearn joined his attorneys in front of a bank of cameras and smiled to supporters but did not speak. He raised his right hand and pumped his fist as he left.Hearn previously told The Associated Press that he was detained by National Guard troops and U.

S. Park Police for five hours after stopping by the pool during a 64-mile (103 kilometer) bike ride June 19. He said he reached in to examine newly peeled coating and briefly touched a chunk attached to the side of the pool but obeyed a park worker who told him to let go of it.

The pool's renovation has been riddled with problems. Workers have used chemicals to curtail an algae bloom. Trump has said the pool likely would need to be drained again for liner repairs after chunks of blue coating were seen floating at the surface.

Trump has claimed without substantiation that vandals dumped fertilizer into the pool and slashed the coating with a box cutter. Pirro said last week that six other people were arrested on misdemeanor charges related to the $16