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2026-06-17 -Lurid Crime Tales-

Chicago student says cross burning in city park was anti-Trump MAGA protest, not racism

[FOX] A 21-year-old college student has come forward to claim responsibility for burning a cross in a popular Chicago park last week, but denied he was making a racist statement despite city leaders initially condemning it as an act of hate.

A University of Illinois Chicago senior told NBC 5 Chicago on Monday that he was the person seen leaving the scene at Grant Park last week, where onlookers filmed a cross in flames.

The man explained he was protesting President Donald Trump and had put a red hat on the cross to symbolize the MAGA hat. He said he did not realize that the protest would be viewed as racial.

"I did know about this historical relevance beforehand," the man told NBC 5. "But I didn’t know the severity, how racially motivated it may seem from what I did. 'Cause my protest has nothing to do with race, nothing to do with gender."

From Skidmark’s Daily Mail link:

The culprit behind a Ku Klux Klan (KKK)-style cross burning in a Chicago park has unmasked himself as a Trump-hating Asian American.

Merlin Lu, 21, of Naperville, claimed he is the one responsible for setting the religious symbol ablaze in Grant Park on June 9.

The stunt took place in the same park where former President Barack Obama delivered his acceptance speech when he was elected the nation's first black president in 2008. # id) ?>

Posted by Skidmark 2026-06-17 02:49|| E-Mail|| Front Page|| [1858 views ] Top
File under: Nut Jobs

1 Culprit who says he's behind KKK-style burning cross in Chicago park is unmasked as Asian-American student who insists bizarre stunt wasn't racist

Posted by Skidmark 2026-06-17 03:32|| 2026-06-17 03:32|| Front Page Top

2 ^If I remember to correct article gay Asian-American student.

Posted by Grom the Reflective 2026-06-17 04:33|| 2026-06-17 04:33|| Front Page Top

3 Seems to be the rest of the story.

Posted by swksvolFF 2026-06-17 11:09|| 2026-06-17 11:09|| Front Page Top

4 A famous man once pointed out that there is a fine line between clever and stupid.

Posted by Super Hose 2026-06-17 11:33|| 2026-06-17 11:33|| Front Page Top

5 'Cause my protest has nothing to do with race, nothing to do with gender."

It's all about me, Me, MEEEE! And what a wonderful, virtuous person I am.

Posted by SteveS 2026-06-17 11:51|| 2026-06-17 11:51|| Front Page Top

6 Behold the absolute state of the modern university system.

Posted by swksvolFF 2026-06-17 12:33|| 2026-06-17 12:33|| Front Page Top

7 @6 This.

How many kids coming out of high school or college know anything about the KKK, Hitler and other despicable groups & people like them?

Posted by Chantry 2026-06-17 13:18|| 2026-06-17 13:18|| Front Page Top

8 ^They know it's all connected to white supremacists and Elders of Zion.

Posted by Grom the Reflective 2026-06-17 14:08|| 2026-06-17 14:08|| Front Page Top

9 So that (headline) makes it ok…

Posted by Glenmore 2026-06-17 19:32|| 2026-06-17 19:32|| Front Page Top

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