Chicago police are investigating after a burning cross was reported in Grant Park Tuesday afternoon. Officers and firefighters responded around 2:30 p.m., extinguished the fire, and said no one was hurt and no one is in custody. A nearby resident recorded vide
A burning cross in Grant Park turned a normal Tuesday afternoon into a moment of fear for a South Side family and a new case for Chicago police.
Officers and firefighters responded to the 600 block of South Columbus Drive around 2:30 p.m. after reports of an “object” on fire. Firefighters extinguished the blaze. Police said the “motives and circumstances” of the burning are under investigation. No one was hurt, and no one is in custody.
Keinika Carlton, a lifelong South Sider, said she noticed the fire while running errands with her mother-in-law and her daughter. Soon, she realized what it was—a burning cross she recognized as a “racist tactic used against our ancestors.”
Carlton recorded a video and posted it to social media. The footage shows a wooden cross burning as it leans against a tree. Flames spread onto the bark of the tree trunk while a person runs away in the background.
Burning crosses have historically been associated with white supremacy and, more specifically, the Ku Klux Klan.
“I’ve only seen stuff like that in history books,” Carlton said. “My grandmother and great grandmother witnessed things like this. I just couldn’t believe it was something I was seeing on a Tuesday afternoon downtown.”
Cross burnings have resulted in charges in other states in recent years. A South Carolina man was hit with federal charges in April for an alleged 2023 cross burning in which he torched the relic in his yard after months of harassing his Black neighbors. A Mississippi man who burned a cross in his front yard to intimidate his Black neighbors in 2020 was sentenced to 42 months in prison.
After the incident, Carlton said she and her family went to the movies to clear their heads. But she said it hasn’t left her mind, and she wants the rest of the city to carry the memory too.
“This is something that needs to be talked about and seen,” Carlton said. “It’s dangerous. Whatever the message, the community needs to be on alert.”
Chicago police CPD investigation Grant Park burning cross Ku Klux Klan white supremacy hate crime Carlton South Columbus Drive
That’s just insane, downtown and they do that??
So they “extinguished the blaze” and nobody’s in custody but they’re investigating the motives…? Kinda sounds like they already know who did it or it woulda been a quick arrest. Either way, if it’s a KKK thing then that’s straight up hate.
Wait is this the same Grant Park where the Bears used to practice or whatever? I saw a clip like this on TikTok and they said it was staged for attention. But then again idk, burning crosses are like… a whole history thing.
Crazy how they say no one hurt and no one in custody like that matters if it’s just meant to scare people. Also why was it leaning on a tree like that, seems like it was planned and not some random “object on fire” mistake. Hope they find the person, because this stuff doesn’t just happen.