Man Who Burned Cross in Grant Park Says It Was a Trump Protest, Expresses No Regret

A 21-year-old Naperville native who admitted to burning a cross in Grant Park last week told a television news crew in an exclusive interview that he has no regrets about the act, describing it as an anti-Trump protest gone wrong in its messaging — not a hate crime.

Merlin Lu, who currently lives on Chicago's near west side, said he constructed the cross and placed a red MAGA hat on top of it before setting it on fire near Columbus and Balbo drives around 2:40 p.m. on June 9. He said the act was meant to protest what he described as