A 21-year-old University of Illinois Chicago senior is now facing eight criminal charges, including two felony hate crime counts, after admitting to setting fire to a cross in Grant Park last week.
Merlin Lu was arrested following the June 9 incident. Police had earlier released images of a suspect fleeing the scene, showing a young man in dark clothing and a black backpack. Lu turned himself in after speaking to media outlets and claiming responsibility for the act.
In an interview with NBC Chicago days before his arrest, Lu insisted his actions were a political statement against Donald Trump, not an expression of racial hatred. He said he placed a red hat atop the cross as a protest symbol and constructed the structure himself using wooden slats he carried from his apartment to the park on Tuesday afternoon. He used toilet paper and lighter fluid to ignite it.
"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," Lu told the station. "I wanted to find something that I could do by myself, like no organization, no friends."
Lu acknowledged in the same interview that he should have chosen a different method of protest and said he was unaware of how his actions would be perceived. He denied any affiliation with white supremacist groups and apologized to those offended by the burning.
Reverend Michael L. Pfleger, pastor of Chicago's Faith Community of Saint Sabina, had offered a $10,000 reward for identifying the perpetrator. Pfleger condemned the act as a deliberate invocation of racist symbolism, noting the cross's historical association with the Ku Klux Klan and white supremacy.
"This was so premeditated. You made this cross somewhere. You carried it, you got it downtown. You put it in one of the most visible spots in Chicago and then you set it afire," Pfleger said on ABC7.
Lu faces four felony charges, two of which are hate crimes, along with arson and property damage charges. His four misdemeanor charges include breach of peace, reckless conduct, property damage, and cross burning to intimidate. A detention hearing was scheduled for Thursday.
Author James Rodriguez: "Whether Lu's actual intent was political theater or something darker, the charges reflect how prosecutors view the act itself, not just the defendant's stated motivation."
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