Here’s a bizarre one for you. A 21-year-old man in Chicago recently spoke out about why he burned a large wooden cross in Grant Park last week.
Merlin Lu, a college student, told a local reporter that he burned the cross as a solo protest against President Donald Trump.
The incident happened last week when a motorist took video footage that caught Lu on camera setting fire to the wooden cross. Nevertheless, the authorities have still not taken him into custody.
Chicago firefighters quickly showed up and extinguished the fire. Nobody was injured during the incident.
NBC 5 Chicago aired an interview with Lu on Monday in which he admitted to building the cross using wooden slats. He doused the cross with lighter fluid and toilet paper and placed a red MAGA hat on top of it before setting it ablaze.
Lu told the reporter that his objective was to make a statement against the Trump administration and what he called “MAGA Christian nationalist supporters” and the “ruling class.” He said he wanted President Trump “gone right now.”
“I don’t want to wait until 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.”
He clarified that he was not calling for violence against the president, but he wanted him out of office.
“He’s just scamming people,” Lu said. “I think that’s a great reflection of how this country works right now, where money controls everything. Money has power over health care. Money has power over transportation.”
The student indicated he did not fully grasp the significance of the burning cross, which was used by the Ku Klux Klan and other white supremacist groups to intimidate black Americans. He denied having any racial intent with the prop.
“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 said.
When asked whether his actions were a hate crime, he said, “No, for sure not. In no way possible was that a hate crime… the intent was not there.” However, he did acknowledge why people looked at his actions as racially motivated. “I apologize for that,” he said.
21-year-old Merlin Lu explains why he set fire to a cross in a Chicago Park to protest President Donald Trump.
— Jeff Charles, Asker of Questions🏴 (@jeffcharlesjr) June 16, 2026
"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." pic.twitter.com/FnlscspH6f
Chicago police confirmed on Tuesday that they had a person of interest in custody in connection with the protest, but did not name Lu. Mayor Brandon Johnson said that burning cross “is an evil symbol of hatred” that the city must reject. “I can’t speak to anyone’s motives,” the mayor said. “But the impact was devastating.”
Ironically enough, Grant Park is the site where former President Barack Obama delivered his 2008 presidential acceptance speech.
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