Five people reportedly arrested after Trump claims Washington reflecting pool was ‘vandalized’ – US politics live

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Michael Sainato

A progressive Democrat challenging a veteran congressman to represent the party in a closely watched New York race for US Congress has claimed the city has deteriorated on his watch.

Darializa Avila Chevalier, one of three allies that New York City’s mayor, Zohran Mamdani, has endorsed in competitive congressional Democratic primaries in the city on Tuesday, is seeking to unseat incumbent Adriano Espaillat in the state’s 13th congressional district.

During a recent candidate forum held by WNYC, Espaillat – the five-term Democrat who chairs the influential Congressional Hispanic caucus – claimed Avila Chevalier was not experienced enough. “Getting results in Congress is not a PhD program,” he declared, referencing her studies at the City University of New York.

But in an interview with the Guardian, Avila Chevalier argued Espaillat had failed to produce such results since taking office.

“You just have to look around our district and ask: have things gotten any better in the nine years that he’s been in office?” she said. “I would argue the answer is no, because we’ve seen an exodus of over 200,000 Black New Yorkers leave the city in the last two decades.”

Five arrests made following Trump's claim that reflecting pool was 'vandalized' - report

Hello and welcome to the US politics live blog.

Five people have reportedly been arrested for vandalizing Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool in Washington DC, with Donald Trump insisting repair work will begin “immediately”.

CBS News reporter Emma Nicholson tweeted on Sunday that an administration official told her five people had been arrested for vandalizing the pool and another five issued federal citations, bring the total number of police reports filed to 14, including one related to an alleged 250ft gash in the pool.

It has been plagued by algae blooms and peeling paint following the controversial recent renovation efforts for America’s 250th anniversary celebrations next month.

On Sunday, Trump said he had personally surveyed the damage. “Work will begin immediately on fixing the seriously vandalized Reflecting Pool,” Trump said in a Truth Social post on Sunday evening.

“I just inspected it, and could only say to myself, and those gathered around me, WOW, who would do such a thing?” the president added, without offering further details. He said the pool would “probably” be drained as part of the repair works.

Three-time Olympian David Hearn, who was apprehended, told the Washington Post that he had merely stopped by the pool to touch one of the peeling pieces of paint liner to see how it felt, when he was arrested by US park police on a misdemeanor charge.

Trump gave no details on any other apparent arrests and exact details of such apprehensions remained scant on Sunday afternoon.

A worker vacuums algae from the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, after recent renovations following a directive from U.S. President Donald Trump to paint it blue ahead of the 250th anniversary of U.S. Independence, in Washington, D.C., U.S., June 21, 2026. Photograph: Aaron Schwartz/Reuters

Meanwhile, the US attorney for the District of Columbia, Jeanine Pirro, said on Sunday afternoon that citations for vandalism had been issued and people caught vandalizing the 2,000-ft-long reflecting pool will be fully prosecuted.

“Anyone who is in a position of vandalizing or attempting to vandalize will face the criminal justice system in DC,” ‌Pirro told Fox News’s Sunday Briefing. Anyone adding products to the pool that can generate algae could face more severe charges, Pirro added, but did not offer statistics or specific details of arrests.

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In other developments:

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• US political figures from left and right have voiced fresh objections to Trump’s provisional deal with Iran. Outgoing Republican senator John Cornyn posted a line on X from a Wall Street Journal article on how rogue regimes evade US economic warfare. Senior Democratic figure Susan Rice added to her recent description of the US-Iran deal as a “horrific surrender” by Trump, calling it “egregious” because “so many concessions were granted up front”.

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