Donald Trump talks tough about alleged vandalism at Reflecting Pool, but it's unlikely any cases will result in 10-year prison sentences, of which he has warned

(Yahoo!)

Donald Trump is warning the public about possible 10-year prison sentences for offenses related to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool -- and his concerns apparently encompass other monuments and memorials on the National Mall. Trump's primary focus has been on alleged vandalism in and around the Reflecting Pool, and an administration official says five people have been arrested and five others received citations -- although no names or public records. have been released. In all, an official said, 14 police reports have been filed for vandalism.

The only arrestee to be publicly identified is former U.S. Olympian David Hearn, who competed in the canoe slalom at three Summer Olympic games and won six consecutive world championships in team competitions. Hearn said he was arrested after touching a piece of blue coating that was partially detached from the bottom of the pool. Hearn said he did not remove, destroy, or damage any part of the Reflecting Pool. Considering Hearn's statement, it's hard to see how any vandalism-related charge (called criminal mischief in many jurisdictions) could stick. That's because the offense usually requires damage to property and criminal intent.

Trump is talking tough, but we have seen no reports so far of conduct that would trigger the kind of severe sentences he has mentioned. It's also not clear that evidence sufficient for conviction in any case has been gathered. And Jeanine Pirro, a former Fox News host who Trump appointed as U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, has a habit of bringing such dubious cases that grand juries refuse to indict. Perhaps the most famous such cases include six Democratic lawmakers accused of encouraging military and intelligence personnel to ignore unlawful orders; Sean Dunn, accused of throwing a Subway sandwich at an immigration officer; and Sidney Lori Reid, accused of assaulting an FBI agent during an immigration arrest.

Is Trump engaging mostly in bluster, probably to scare members of the public into staying away from the Reflecting Pool? Our guess is yes. Is this part of Trump's habit of engaging in police-state tactics in situations where probably no other post-WWII president would have even considered such actions? Our guess, again, is yes.

That is not to ignore, however, that some statutes do point to possibly serious punishment upon conviction, for criminal conduct involving federal property. Here are some examples:

(1) 18 U.S. Code 1361 -- Destruction of Government Property

Penalties for violations of this section are tied to the extent of property damage. If the damage exceeds $100, the defendant is subject to a fine of $250,000, 10 years imprisonment of both. When the damage is less than $100, the offense is a misdemeanor and the defendant is subject to a fine of up to $100,000, one year imprisonment or both. Those are, in fact, serious punishments, but it does not appear that any potential violations so far at the Reflecting Pool fit "Destruction of Government Property" as defined in the statute. Also, this is a "specific intent crime," requiring willful conduct and knowledge that the defendant was committing a crime. That means such a charge probably is difficult to prove.

(2) 18 U.S. Code 13169 -- The Veterans' Memorial Preservation Act

This covers anyone who willfully injures or destroys, or attempts to injure or destroy, any structure, plaque, statue, or other monuments on public property commemorating the service of any person or persons in the armed forces of the United States. Upon conviction, defendants can face a fine, up to 10 years in prison or both.

Again, these are serious penalties but we have seen no allegations so far related to any structures that commemorate military duty. 

How might punishment play out in the real world for the vandalism-style offenses that have been cited? A jointly published article at CNN and Yahoo! News provides insights:

While prosecutors in Washington, DC, haven't yet formally brought charges, the Justice Department must decide in the coming days how aggressively it will pursue people who were arrested and cited over the weekend as the pool's new bottom layer was peeling off. . . . 

The violations cited by the US Park Police, at least initially, are misdemeanors in DC's local Superior Court — for vandalizing, disorderly conduct or defacing public property.

But Trump's post suggested the cases could be charged as more serious crimes if Jeanine Pirro, US Attorney for the District of Columbia, decides they should.

Pirro, speaking on Fox News over the weekend, said those who vandalized or tried to vandalize the pool will "face the criminal justice system in DC."

"There are several citations that have been handed out to individuals, and these are cases that will be prosecuted to the full extent," she said. "If there are more serious products that are put into the Reflecting Pool to create more algae or a bigger problem, then we'll consider more serious charges."

A destruction of government property offense could be charged as a felony in federal court if the damage is pricey. That type of federal criminal charge carries a maximum fine of up to $250,000 or 10 years in prison, though maximum sentences are exceedingly rare in practice.

That raises this question: Federal prosecutors, like Trump, tend to talk a tough-on-crime game, but do their actions in court always coincide with their words -- even when it's Jeanine Pirro herself or someone else in Trump's Department of Justice? We will examine that question in an upcoming post.

Despite having no evidence to support claims, White House says vandals hit Reflecting Pool and arrests were made -- with a former U.S. Olympian nabbed

(Instagram)

Donald Trump says vandals damaged the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, though neither he nor anyone from his administration has produced evidence to support such a claim, according to news accounts yesterday. A number of reports included claims from a White House official that arrests and/or citations had been issued regarding alleged offenses in the area surrounding the pool. The nameless official apparently asked to remain anonymous, and we have found zero reports that anyone from the administration has produced documents to confirm arrests -- even though such documents generally are public records.

The only person to be publicly identified as an arrestee is a former U.S. Olympian who denied doing anything to damage the Reflecting Pool. Trump, in his usual understated fashion, said alleged offenders were "sick, deranged people."

ABC News provides details under the headline "Trump says Reflecting Pool repairs will begin 'immediately' after vandalism arrests; algae has been forming in the pool following a roughly $14M renovation. Nicholas Kerr reports:

President Donald Trump said Sunday that work would begin "immediately" to repair the peeling lining at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, as an administration official confirmed that at least five people have been arrested on vandalism charges related to the pool. 

"Work will begin immediately on fixing the seriously vandalized Reflecting Pool," Trump said in a post on Truth Social, claiming to have just inspected it himself.

Trump said that he "could only say to myself, and those gathered around me, WOW, who would do such a thing? SICK, DERANGED PEOPLE," adding, "we will fix it."

An administration official said on Sunday that as of Saturday night, five individuals had been arrested for vandalism, and five others had been issued citations. 

Citations for what -- licking an ice cream cone, drinking a limeade? Trump has declared those to be crimes? It seems anything that does not involve him can be a crime, right? Here is more from ABC News:

The Reflecting Pool has been plagued with algae and peeling paint in the days since the Trump administration completed the renovation, which cost more than $16 million, and was $4 million more than the estimated cost.

Visitors have been flocking to the pool over the weekend and some have taken to social media with photos and videos showing the algae and peeling paint.

On Saturday, Trump claimed in a post on Truth Social that the painted surface of the Reflecting Pool had been sabotaged with chemicals. 

In a follow-up social media post, Trump said the Reflecting Pool would likely need to be partially drained to repair the peeling lining, which he once again claimed, without evidence, was damaged by intentional sabotage.

"We met with contractors today, will probably be forced to release and drain much of the water in order to do the necessary repairs, but will have them done as quickly as possible," Trump said of the pool's condition. 

Will that work be offered on a no-bid contract like the one Trump gifted his longtime crony and Mar-a-Lago neighbor J.J. Cafaro? That question, it seems, has not yet been asked or answered:

Atlantic Industrial Coatings, which completed the $14.5 million job to install the lining, confirmed in a statement on Sunday that the Reflecting Pool would need to be drained to complete repairs and work would be covered under the project warranty. (Update: The question above has been answered. In an online report by Gabe Sanchez, the president of Atlantic Industrial Coatings said his firm also received a no-bid contract. Has anyone at the White House ever heard of the competitive-bid process? It's not a new thingy.) 

Trump went on and on about the work of "vandals," raising this question: Hasn't anyone ever considered installing 24-7 security cameras near the Lincoln Memorial? Doesn't Walmart carry them? (more on that issue in an upcoming post.) For now, here is more from ABC News:

In his post, Trump referenced the giant "86 47" marked in grass on the National Mall and claimed that "corrosive and destructive chemicals" were poured into the pool by vandals, causing the lining to peel.

The president also alleged that someone "took some form of knife or blade, and put a 250 foot long gash into the beautiful facade of what took so much work, competence, and money to build and complete."

It was not clear if he was referring to the lining of the Reflecting Pool, or to damage to another monument.

"What these terrible Vandals have done is a true affront to both Presidents George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, and should be dealt with accordingly," Trump said. 

The U.S. Park Police did not immediately respond to ABC News to questions about any of the arrests referenced by Trump in his post. 

What about the one guy who was publicly identified as having been arrested? Let's pick up on that story:

Hours before he made his announcement of the arrests, Trump shared a Daily Mail article about an arrest Friday of a man near the Reflecting Pool, who was later identified as three-time U.S. Olympian David Hearn. (Does anyone see irony in a five-time draft-dodger touting the arrest of an American who represented his country on the world's grandest stage for international sports competition?) Hearn was quick to say the National Park Service had no grounds to detain him, and it sounds like he might have a valid claim for false arrest. I hope he can find a fire-eating lawyer to file a case, win a case, and land a mega judgment -- hopefully with some of it coming out of Trump's pocket.)

Hearn told ABC News that police arrested him on Friday after he touched a piece of blue coating that was partially detached from the bottom of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.

Hearn denied damaging the pool, saying, "I did not remove, I did not damage, I did not rip, tear, break, destroy or harm any part of the Reflecting Pool," Hearn said. 

The National Park Service has not replied to a request from ABC News about Hearn's arrest or any others.

Trump regime's cover-up of the Epstein files, plus its alliance with Israel, seems to have alienated young men who now are suspects in plot against White House

(Facebook)

Two California men have been arrested in an alleged plot to attack Sunday night's White House UFC event, according to a jointly published report at The Los Angeles Times and Yahoo! News. Those are the latest arrests in the case, with the total number of suspects in custody now at five -- with the California suspects joining three arrestees from the Midwest (one each from Ohio, Nebraska, and Missouri). 

The LA Times/Yahoo! report focuses on the backgrounds  of the California men now in custody. Reporters Brittny Mejia and Grace Toohey write:

Two men from the Inland Empire have been arrested and charged in what federal officials describe as a plot to kill government officials and others at the UFC cage-fighting show staged at the White House last weekend.

The two Southern Californians are among five co-conspirators arrested across the country in the murder scheme that authorities said appeared to have been motivated by anti-government ideology.

Here's what we know so far about the men and the plot:

Who are they?

Michael Alan Thomas, 32, was arrested in San Bernardino County's Piñon Hills on Saturday, charged with conspiracy to commit murder, according to officials and records from the U.S. Department of Justice.

Bryan Omar Roa, 24, was arrested the same day about 50 miles south in Riverside County's Calimesa, also charged with conspiracy to commit murder.

According to the complaint filed in federal court in California, Roa and Thomas had been in touch virtually, but had met up at least once in the last month to practice marksmanship and tactics.

Investigators learned about the men's activities by tracking them through an iPhone app that Apple touts as a "secure messenger" that offers "privacy redefined: no user IDs." Mejia and Toohey write:

In messages exchanged on an encrypted messaging application called SimpleX, Thomas and Roa communicated in a chatroom titled "Vanguard of the Old Republic," according to the complaint. There, Thomas told Roa he was "up the hill behind LA," clarifying he was was Piñon Hills, to which Roa responded that he was in Yucaipa, which is located right next to Calimesa, where officials said Roa was arrested.

The two men were linked to the plot about a week before the UFC fight was scheduled, after a relative of an alleged co-conspirator alerted authorities. That co-conspirator, Tycen C. Proper, of Danville, Ohio, identified Roa and Thomas as part of the plot, and shared social media usernames, according to the criminal complaint. 

What was the goal of the plot?

Authorities said Thomas admitted to helping plan the attack and encouraging others to take part. In an interview with FBI agents, Thomas allegedly told authorities the aim of this attack and future ones was to create enough chaos to bring about the overthrow of the U.S. government, according to the criminal complaint.

Authorities said he indicated his belief that the U.S. government is run by an elite group of individuals who sacrifice and consume infants. According to the complaint, Thomas also mentioned the disgraced financier Jeffery Epstein, who was accused of sex-trafficking girls and young women, and said Epstein's associates are now protected by President Trump.

Roa later told authorities that he had planned to attend the UFC event only as a protester, but his vehicle malfunctioned and he had to return home. His family members, however, told law enforcement that Roa said one day they would wake up and he would be gone, and that he intended to travel to Washington, where "something big" would happen.

"Roa's family members also believed he intended to commit an act of violence during this trip due to his increased time spent shooting his weapons and a noticeable change in behavior including increased anxiety, irritation, and seclusion," the complaint states.

Both Thomas and Roa were arrested Saturday, the day before the event on the White House lawn.

FBI agents found firearms, a tactical belt, and radios inside Roa's car. Inside Thomas' home, investigators described finding a pistol, a hunting rifle, an AR-style rifle, and several 30-round ammunition magazines. 

What about the plot?

According to court records, co-conspirators allegedly discussed using drones to drop explosives on the north side of the White House to create panic and funnel event attendees toward locations where they would have snipers ready to kill certain high-value targets.

In Ohio, the FBI searched Proper's home and and found a journal in which he wrote about the government seeking to control people and sacrifice children and others to a demonic figure.

Who where the targets?

Authorities said the journal contained a list of about 46 names, which included celebrities and politicians. When authorities searched Proper's iPhone, "investigators observed chats on Signal groups that laid out detailed plans to conduct an attack in Washington, D.C., with several unidentified co-conspirators," according to the complaint.

"In those chats, law enforcement saw detailed imagery of the National Capitol Region and maps of the area with different potential sniper locations highlighted, potential drone launch locations identified, and other detailed tactical planning locations," the complaint states.

Where does the case stand now?

Roa and Thomas are being held in San Bernardino County jail, according to jail records.

The cases against Proper, 19, remain ongoing, as do the cases against the two other alleged co-conspirators: Daniel K. Eskridge, 32, of Kidder, Mo., and Abraham Hermosillo Alvarez, 31, of Omaha, Neb.

What was driving the five known conspirators? That is a hard question to answer because they come from different parts of the country and seem to hold a mixed bag of beliefs. Proper's mother said he had engaged with a Christian extremist group and expressed sympathetic views of Adolph Hitler. On the other hand, Proper had identified President Donald Trump, Vice President J.D. Vance, and more than a half dozen Republican members of Congress as targets of the plot.

Occupy Democrats views the alleged conspiracy as blowback that the Trump regime brought on itself. From a post this week at the group's Facebook page:

BREAKING: MAGA TERROR! The men arrested by the FBI for plotting to attack Trump’s UFC event have been exposed as white pro-Hitler right-wing extremists who were targeting the Trump team for covering up the Epstein files!

Reap what you sow…

Trump’s idiot FBI director, Kash Patel, got in hot water yesterday by prematurely bragging about having foiled a plot to commit a terrorist attack Trump’s UFC fight.

He actually did nothing; the mother of one of the perpetrators called the cops on her son after he began stockpiling weapons and getting deeply involved in an “ultra-religious and anti-government” group on the internet. . . .

The charging documents for one of the men, 19-year-old Tycen Proper, says he joined a TikTok group called "Vanguard of the Old Republic."

His mother told the cops that “PROPER recently began interacting with a group online that was comprised of individuals who represented themselves as ex-military and that may share some Christian-based ideology.

“She stated that she did not know the name of the group, but that they expressed ultra-religious and anti-government sentiments, specifically citing grievances about government corruption, the handling of the Epstein files, data centers taking up all the water in communities, and other government actions.”

Proper himself had been posting pro-Hitler and anti-Semitic comments on social media.

The documents state that Michael Alan Thomas “believes the U.S. government is run by an elite group of individuals who sacrifice and consume infants who also were deeply involved with Jeffrey Epstein and are now protected by President Donald Trump. THOMAS places some of the responsibility of this corruption of government with Jewish people and blames them and Israel for the current war with Iran.”

The group was plotting to attack the UFC fight with drones, driving people towards sniper teams to be shot. Sen. Marsha Blackburn was one of their targets for her slavish devotion to AIPAC and Israel.

As its name implies, Occupy Democrats is a partisan organization, but the facts it cites have been reported at several respected news outlets, including The Los Angeles Times. That indicates -- to me at least -- that the group reached reasonable conclusions, based on facts as they currently are known. From their post:

This is a fascinating glimpse into the blowback that Trump and the right-wing propaganda machine has unleashed against themselves for spending years prompting outrageous conspiracy theories about satanic pedophile cabals…and then going above and beyond to keep the actual Epstein files hidden.

Once again, it is made clear that Trump and the right-wing are the sources of and perpetrators of political violence in America.

How ironic that they end up being its targets now.