By: Jomana Aly
U.S. President Donald Trump’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame was destroyed again early Wednesday, this time by a man with a pickax.
The suspect, 24-year-old Austin Clay, was in custody at the Los Angeles County Jail on a charge of felony vandalism with a bail of $US20,000, jail records showed.
Witness David Palmer said he is accustomed to seeing the unusual on Hollywood Boulevard, where tourists mingle with street performers dressed as superheroes and other characters, but he was surprised to see the Walk of Fame vandalism.
“I’m like, ‘Why are you hitting that star? What did Donald Trump do to you?'” Palmer told NBC4. “Then he went around the corner and I think he left.”
So this just happened again… somebody used a pick axe to destroy Donald Trump's star on the Walk of Fame. Still trying to learn more, but we know it's been vandalized multiple times, just never on this level. @NBCLA 📸: Victor Park/Loudlabs pic.twitter.com/lzq7YrsSRV
— Jonathan Gonzalez (@JonathanNBCLA) July 25, 2018
Before being elected president, Mr Trump, 72, was a real estate developer-turned-reality TV star who was producer of the NBC show The Apprentice, and the Miss Universe pageants.