‘Fighting for this land’: Protesters rally to save East Potomac Park

Dozens of protesters gathered for a Hains Point Hoopla rally Sunday in an effort to save East Potomac Park.

Last month, President Trump announced plans to renovate the park and turn it into a championship golf course.

The Trump administration cut down more than 100 trees at the park last month, and these D.C. nature lovers said they’re worried about what could come next.

“We are fighting for this land,” said Elizabeth Kiker with the Washington Area Bicyclist Association. “We are fighting for this public space, and we are not going down.”

The D.C. Preservation League is currently suing the Department of the Interior to try to stop the renovation. A federal judge had previously told the Trump administration they had to give notice if they planned to cut down more than 10 trees, but she later allowed the work to continue.

“I don’t want to see it become exclusive,” said protester Benjamin Feldman. “I also don’t want to see a whole lot of unnecessary tax dollars being spent on all these projects in D.C.”

And one of the protesters in the crowd was Davey Hearn, the Olympic canoeist previously charged with vandalizing the Reflecting Pool.

“I’m proud to be here today as a free man,” he said to the crowd.

This past week, a judge officially dismissed the case against him, and prosecutors will not be allowed to charge him again.

“It was a difficult 104 days being accused by the top leadership of our country of being guilty of something I didn’t do,” Hearn said.

U.S. Attorney for D.C. Jeannine Pirro did not respond to a request for comment.

As for East Potomac Park, The Department of Justice has described the construction work as routine maintenance.