Merlin Lu, 21, was charged with a hate crime, arson and other offenses after admitting he set a cross on fire in Grant Park on June 9, police said. Lu told a TV station he meant to protest President Donald Trump, and he apologized for how the burning cross was
For days after a cross was set on fire in Chicago’s Grant Park, the question was what sparked it—and whether it was meant as intimidation.
A 21-year-old man now faces that question in court after police said Merlin Lu was charged with a hate crime. arson and other offenses tied to the June 9 blaze. In a police statement released Wednesday night. authorities said Lu admitted he was responsible for the cross burning and that he was charged with four felonies and four misdemeanors. including a hate crime and burning a cross to intimidate.
Lu told a TV station this week that he understood why the act was interpreted as hate, and he apologized for the interpretation. “I understand why it was interpreted that way, and I apologize for that, but no, the intent was not there,” Lu said before his arrest.
He also said he did not see the cross as a “historical symbol of hate and intimidation against Black people.” Instead. Lu insisted the burning was a protest aimed at President Donald Trump. He told the station that his protest was directed at what he described as the “ruling class” and Christian nationalists who support Trump.
Lu’s account still runs directly into the allegations on file. Police said the charges include burning a cross to intimidate, alongside the hate crime count. He will face a detention hearing after he was scheduled to appear in court.
Thursday brought a practical uncertainty: it was not immediately known whether Lu had an attorney who could speak on his behalf.
In his interview. Lu said he knew the act carried historical weight—but he said he didn’t grasp how it could be read as racially motivated. “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. ” he told the TV station. “Cause my protest has nothing to do with race, nothing to do with gender.”.
When the burning cross was reported in the park, the site carried another visual change. Someone placed a large, multicolored, glass fiber heart with the word “resilient” where the burning cross stood in Grant Park.
The case adds to the growing attention on how symbolic acts are treated under U.S. hate-crime and arson laws—especially when the person who committed them describes a different intent than the one investigators say is present. Lu’s criminal charges will determine whether that intent, as police allege, was tied to intimidation and hate.
Lu’s LinkedIn page says he has attended college in Indiana and Chicago and was studying chemistry.
Merlin Lu Chicago Grant Park burning cross hate crime arson detention hearing WMAQ-TV Donald Trump intimidation