Cross-Burning Suspect: This Was No Hate Crime

A university student now facing hate crime charges over a burning cross in Chicago's Grant Park says his protest against President Trump was misconstrued. Police on Wednesday said 21-year-old Merlin Lu was arrested Monday and hit with four felony counts—including two hate crime charges—and four misdemeanors tied to the June 9 blaze, which damaged city property, per NBC News. Lu, a senior at the University of Illinois Chicago, has publicly said he built and set fire to the large wooden cross—a symbol of the Ku Klux Klan—but had no idea of the racist history behind such an act.

He told NBC Chicago his aim was to denounce the federal government, and that he put a red hat meant to evoke Trump's "Make America Great Again" branding atop the cross for effect. The hat was not visible in footage from the scene, NBC reports. "In no way possible was that a hate crime ... It had nothing to do with race," Lu said, while acknowledging he understood why people saw it that way and apologizing to those offended. He also denied affiliation with the KKK, while accusing Trump of "scamming" Americans. He remains in custody ahead of a detention hearing scheduled for Thursday, per the Guardian.