21-Year-Old Charged With Hate Crime for Burning Cross in Chicago Park
A 21-year-old Chicago man faces hate crime and arson charges after admitting to burning a cross in Grant Park, claiming it was a protest against Trump rather than a racial act.
Merlin Lu confessed to setting the cross ablaze in Grant Park on June 9, according to New York Post. Despite acknowledging his actions, Lu claimed his intent was to protest President Donald Trump rather than invoke the cross burning’s historical association with racial intimidation and violence against Black Americans.
Chicago police charged Lu with four felonies and four misdemeanors, including committing a hate crime and burning a cross to intimidate. The charges were announced in a statement released Wednesday evening.
Before his arrest, Lu spoke with WMAQ-TV and attempted to distance his actions from racial motivation. He stated that while he understood why people interpreted the burning cross as a racist symbol, the intent was not there, according to his comments to the station.
Lu admitted to the television outlet that he was aware of the historical significance of cross burnings before committing the act. However, he claimed ignorance about the severity of the racial connotations his actions would carry.
The suspect insisted his demonstration had nothing to do with race or gender, instead framing it as a protest against what he described as the “ruling class” and Christian nationalists who back Trump.
The location where the cross burned in Grant Park has since been marked with a large, multicolored glass fiber heart bearing the word “resilient,” placed by an unknown individual.
According to his LinkedIn profile, Lu has attended colleges in both Indiana and Chicago while pursuing studies in chemistry.
The suspect was scheduled for a detention hearing Thursday. It remains unclear whether Lu has retained legal representation.
With information from New York Post
