By Holmes Lybrand

(CNN) — Former Olympic canoeist David Hearn pleaded not guilty in Washington, DC, Superior Court Thursday to damaging the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, prompting a raucous scene at the courthouse where supporters chanted his name and accused the Trump administration of abusing the justice system.

Hearn, 67, was indicted on July 2 on one count of destruction of property of more than $1,000 for allegedly damaging the Reflecting Pool in front of the Lincoln Memorial.

The felony charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, if convicted.

Hearn’s indictment was a notably aggressive prosecutorial choice by DC US Attorney Jeanine Pirro, after he and several others were cited for tampering with the Reflecting Pool last month. Gawkers and critics of the president had gathered for days around the site on the National Mall after the Trump administration completed a $14 million restoration of the massive pool that added blue sealant to the bottom.

The sealant had been peeling extensively and algae was plaguing the pool at the time Hearn visited it and allegedly contributed to the damage by peeling up two square feet of the blue liner.

“The government’s evidence is weak,” Mary Dohrmann, an attorney for Hearn, said during the hearing Thursday.

His attorneys also invoked his right to a speedy trial, but the judge said she couldn’t hold a trial till February 2027 because of the court’s calendar.

No trial date was set. His next hearing is scheduled for August 5.

Hearn’s attorneys indicated he will challenge the legality of the case extensively before a trial.

After the brief court appearance, a large group of the well-known canoeist’s supporters gathered outside the courthouse carrying signs calling Hearn a hero. At least one carried a life preserver.

“If Mr. Hearn can be charged with a felony for touching the Reflecting Pool, every American is at risk,” another attorney for Hearn, Norm Eisen, said outside the courthouse.

“That’s right!” a woman in the crowd yelled.

“We have confidence in our justice system to see through this misuse of government power,” Eisen said.

As he left, Hearn, smiling, raised his fist while supporters cheered his name.

The arrest of Hearn and others followed the Trump administration recasting the peeling bottom layer and algae growth in the Reflecting Pool shortly after its renovation as serious vandalism.

The US Attorney’s Office has already charged others with property destruction accusations that are less serious than Hearn’s.

Three other people accused of damaging the Reflecting Pool pleaded not guilty Wednesday to misdemeanor charges of destruction of property. The legal difference between their citations and Hearn’s indictment is that the amount of damage to the pool they are accused of causing amounted to less than $1,000, according to court records.

Police had found one of those three people holding a piece of the blue sealant in his hand by the pool last month, and another had a piece in her purse, court records say.

All three were ordered to stay away from the Reflecting Pool.

Crews began draining the Reflecting Pool over the weekend to make repairs, according to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, for the second time in three months.

The move comes after weeks of problems — algae blooms, green-hued water, a chipping bottom and the administration’s allegations of vandalism — have plagued the iconic landmark.

Pirro, when announcing the indictment of Hearn last week with a press conference, framed the allegations against the former Olympian as a violent desecration of a national monument, and called him belligerent and rude toward the Park Police who had arrested him.

Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin, a Democrat whose congressional district Hearn lives in, said in a statement Thursday that Hearn “would never” desecrate or vandalize a federal landmark. The congressman called what Hearn has faced a “Kafkaesque arrest and Orwellian charges.”

“He is beloved in my district as a model citizen whether on water or on dry land. He is a great guy,” Raskin’s statement said.

This story is developing and will be updated.

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