Man who set a large cross on fire in a park says it was an anti-Trump protest

Chicago police released this image of the burning cross and a suspect. Photo by Handout /Chicago Police Department

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A burning cross that was being investigated as a possible hate crime by Chicago police has turned out to be an anti-Trump protest by a 21-year-old who said he had no idea the symbol he chose was one used in racist attacks.

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The incident took place in Grant Park, a large green space in the city’s business district that was also the site of U.S. President Barack Obama’s 2008 election victory speech. On June 9 a cross was seen engulfed in flames and leaning against a tree before firefighters put out the blaze.

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Local Catholics expressed shock and outrage at the crime, with one pastor remarking: “It’s just so disheartening and upsetting that this is happening.”

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An art installation of a fibreglass heart with the word “Resilient” painted on it was later placed in the same location where the cross had been, with a sign saying it was originally part of a 2021 project by a local non-profit, but had been moved there as a direct response to the incident.

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Police and the FBI were still looking for the perpetrator when NBC released an interview on Monday with 21-year-old University of Illinois Chicago senior Merlin Lu, who said he committed the crime but denied it was racist in its intention. He said his target was U.S. president Donald Trump.

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“I don’t want to wait till his term ends,” he said. “I don’t want to wait until he may or may not get impeached. I want him gone right now.”

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Asked if that constituted a threat, Lu said it did not. “I said he deserves to stand trial to the American people … I don’t mean like a civil war, if that’s the imagery that you’re trying to imagine.”

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Lu said he had topped the cross with a red MAGA cap of the style worn by Trump fans, but that detail was not visible in pictures and videos of the incident.

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On the history of cross-burning, he said: “I did know about this historical relevance beforehand, but I didn’t know the severity, how racially motivated it may seem from what I did.” He added: “My protest has nothing to do with race, nothing to with gender.”

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Asked if he should have chosen a different symbol, Lu replied: “Yeah, probably.”

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The NBC reporter pushed Lu on how he could have made it through almost four years of university without learning about cross burnings.

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“I just saw the Wikipedia page with the movie … I think it’s called like Under One Nation or something like that,” Lu said. He seemed to be referring to The Birth of a Nation, a 1915 film that was sympathetic to the Ku Klux Klan and featured a cross burning.

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On Tuesday, Chicago police said that a person was in custody in connection with the incident, but did not release other details about the arrest.

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