Chicago police investigate burning cross in Grant Park, seek suspect

A burning cross in the middle of Grant Park sent Chicago police and firefighters to one of the city’s most visible public spaces and quickly turned into a hate-symbol investigation. Officers responded around 2:30 p.m. Tuesday to the 600 block of South Columbus Drive, near Columbus Drive and Balbo Drive, after reports of an object on fire.

Firefighters extinguished the blaze. No one was hurt and no major property damage was reported, but the image of a wooden cross burning beside a tree spread fast across social media and drew sharp condemnation from religious and community leaders.

Video from the scene showed flames climbing the cross as it leaned against the tree, with fire spreading to the bark. The location added to the shock: Grant Park sits in the heart of The Loop, a busy civic space where pedestrians, commuters and visitors pass through throughout the day. Witnesses said the flames were visible to people driving or walking down Columbus Drive, and at least one person filmed the scene while passing by.

Chicago police said the motives and circumstances remain under investigation, and Area Three detectives are handling the case. On Wednesday, police also released a surveillance image of a person seen fleeing the scene and asked the public for help identifying the suspect.

The incident reverberated beyond the park itself because of what the symbol represents. The Anti-Defamation League describes the burning cross as one of the most potent hate symbols in the United States, tied historically to the Ku Klux Klan and to racial intimidation of Black Americans. That history made the act in downtown Chicago feel, to many onlookers, less like vandalism than a public message of fear.

Rev. Michael Pfleger of St. Sabina Church condemned the burning cross as a symbol of hate and said the church was offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest. Community leaders also called for the case to be investigated as a hate crime, underscoring the pressure on authorities to respond to the act not just as a fire scene, but as an act with deep racial and historical meaning.