Chicago man charged with hate crimes in Grant Park cross burning

The cross burned in the middle of Grant Park was more than an act of property damage. In American history, the burning cross has been used as a weapon of racial terror, and Chicago prosecutors have now treated the June 9 blaze as a hate crime tied to intimidation as well as arson.

Police said firefighters and officers responded around 2:30 p.m. to the 600 block of South Columbus Drive after the cross was set on fire. The flames were extinguished, no one was injured and no major property damage was reported, but the image of a burning cross in downtown Chicago immediately carried a meaning far beyond the scene itself.

Authorities said Merlin Lu, 21, of Chicago, was taken into custody Monday at his residence in the 1400 block of South Halsted by Chicago police and U.S. Marshals. By Wednesday evening, he had been charged with two felony hate crime counts, arson, damaging property, disorderly conduct, reckless conduct, criminal damage to property and cross burning to intimidate. Chicago police said Lu was scheduled to appear in court Thursday, June 19.

The case drew in the FBI and Illinois State Police, underscoring the seriousness of the investigation and the higher legal threshold prosecutors face when they pursue hate-crime counts. Those charges require more than proof that property was damaged or a fire was set. They reflect an allegation that the act was intended to target and terrorize people through bias, turning a street crime into a broader assault on community safety and public space.

Police had earlier released photos of a person of interest seen fleeing the scene. The incident also triggered immediate outrage from religious and political leaders. Rev. Michael Pfleger of St. Sabina Church offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest, and Gov. JB Pritzker condemned the act as intimidation and terror.

Witnesses described the shock of seeing the symbol in the heart of the city. Keinika Carlton said she first thought she saw a tree before realizing it was a cross, and said she and her family were stunned to find it downtown. Another witness, Alyna Carlton, said seeing a burning cross in Chicago in 2026 was hard to believe.

Grant Park itself added another layer of symbolism. It is the same place where Barack Obama delivered his 2008 victory speech after becoming the nation’s first Black president, making the choice of location feel like a deliberate affront in a public space already tied to a milestone in Black political history.