UIC Student Burns Cross in Anti-MAGA Protest
- Lynn Matthews
- 3 minutes ago
- 2 min read
Chicago, IL — June 16, 2026
A University of Illinois Chicago senior has come forward as the person who built and set fire to a large wooden cross in Grant Park last week — topping it with a red MAGA hat in what he describes as a political protest against the Trump administration.
Merlin Lu, 21, of Naperville, told NBC 5 Investigates’ Chuck Goudie that he targeted “MAGA Christian nationalists” and what he called the administration’s “ruling class,” citing frustration over health care and transportation costs. He acknowledged knowing the historical weight of a burning cross as a KKK intimidation symbol, but insisted his act “had nothing to do with race.”
Lu said he doused the cross in lighter fluid and set it ablaze around 2:38 p.m. on June 9 near South Columbus Drive and East Balbo Drive, steps from where a motorist captured the flaming structure leaning against a tree. The video spread quickly online, prompting an arson investigation by Chicago police and a review by the FBI for possible hate-crime charges.
Maga Hat Was Used to Signify His Message
In the interview, Lu admitted he understood what a burning cross would signal to the public:
“Yeah, probably [I knew what it would look like].”
He said the MAGA hat was placed on top “to signify” his message against Trump supporters. Asked whether a different form of protest might have been a smarter choice, Lu replied, “Yeah, probably.”
Police say a person of interest is now in custody. As of Tuesday morning, no charges have been filed.
The Narrative Flip
Initial coverage treated the incident as a textbook symbol of racial terror in a park with deep significance to Chicago’s Black community — the same park where Barack Obama delivered his 2008 election-night address. Civil rights groups, including CAIR-Chicago, condemned it outright as reminiscent of KKK and white-supremacist intimidation.
Once Lu — an Asian-American student from an affluent suburb and a 2022 graduate of Neuqua Valley High School — stepped forward with his left-wing motive, some coverage softened, reframing the act as an awkward “protest with a twist” rather than a hate crime.
That shift highlights a glaring inconsistency: a burning cross is condemned, correctly, as a hate symbol when tied to the right. When the perpetrator is a left-wing activist targeting conservatives and Christians, the framing softens and questions of selective enforcement follow.
Lu’s solo stunt also raises practical questions about public safety, arson law, and whether political theater that mimics historical terrorism will draw real consequences — in a city with a long track record of “mostly peaceful” demonstrations.
WecuMedia Take
Symbols have meaning. If cross burning is hate when one group does it, it doesn’t magically become “activism” when the target changes. Free speech has limits when it involves literal fire in a public park. The open question now is whether Chicago officials — and the press — will treat this case the same way they would a right-wing equivalent.
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