Chicago student says cross burning in park was anti-Trump protest
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A 21-year-old college student has come forward to take responsibility for burning a cross in a popular Chicago park last week, but has denied making a racist remark, even though city leaders initially condemned it as an act of hate.
A University of Illinois at Chicago senior told NBC 5 Chicago on Monday that he was the person seen leaving the scene in Grant Park last week where onlookers filmed a cross in flames.
The man explained that he was protesting President Donald Trump and wore a red hat to the cross to symbolize his MAGA hat. He said he wasn’t aware the protest would be seen as racist.
“I knew about this historical connection beforehand,” the man said. he told NBC 5. “But I didn’t know the seriousness of what I was doing and how racially motivated it was. Because my protest has nothing to do with race, nothing to do with gender.”
A University of Illinois at Chicago student told NBC 5 Chicago that he set fire to a cross in Grant Park to protest the Trump administration. (Alishia Abodunde/Getty Images)
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Hours after the report was published, Chicago Police confirmed: NBC 5 It was stated that a person involved in the viral incident was in custody. The department issued a community alert on June 11 asking for the public’s assistance in searching for a person associated with an image of a topless young man wearing a backpack “who was observed fleeing the scene where an object was constructed and set on fire.”
Chicago Police told Fox News Digital in a statement that they cannot release the names of potential criminals or persons of interest until they are charged.
According to NBC 5, the student they had previously interviewed sent a video to the channel in which he took responsibility for the incident and apologized to those who were offended, reiterating his anti-Trump stance.
“I don’t want to wait until the semester is over,” he said in the video. “I don’t want to wait for him to be impeached or impeached. I want him gone now.”
President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office of the White House on Wednesday, June 3, 2026, in Washington. (Alex Brandon/AP)
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He denied threatening the president when asked by NBC reporter Chuck Goudie.
“I told Goudie that he deserved to be tried in front of the American people,” he told Goudie.
“You use the word ‘end,’” Goudie responds.
“That’s what I mean. I don’t mean a civil war after all, if that’s the image you’re trying to imagine,” the student continued.
He told Goudie that he was protesting “MAGA Christian nationalist supporters” and the “ruling class of the Trump administration” and that he did not think his actions should be considered a hate crime.
Historically, cross burnings in the United States have been used to intimidate Black Americans and are known to be associated with the Ku Klux Klan.
Photos shared by Chicago Police of a suspicious man seen running from an arson incident in Grant Park last week. (Chicago Police Department)
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Initial media reports focused on a potential racial motivation.
An AP report He underlined that former President Barack Obama gave his presidential victory acceptance speech in the park where the cross was discovered, and said that the incident sent “shock waves” in the city, where more than 1 in 4 people are Black.
Democratic Mayor Brandon Johnson stated that he was “deeply disturbed” by the incident and said, “Hate has no place in our city.”
“Every Chicagoan deserves to feel safe, protected and respected as they go about their day or enjoy our public spaces,” Johnson wrote in an op-ed. Publish on X Wednesday. “We will continue to work across city government to maintain this standard and ensure Chicago remains a welcoming, inclusive and safe place for everyone.”
Mayor Brandon Johnson answers questions during a press conference at Chicago City Hall on February 25, 2025. (Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
The Saint Sabina Faith Community, a local Catholic church, also offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of everyone involved, AP reported.
St. Pastor Michael Pfleger of Sabina Church made a statement Block Club Chicago He described this action as a hate crime.
“Racism has always been part of America’s DNA, and this week it reared its head boldly and loudly,” Pfleger was quoted as saying. “This bold rise of racism should be condemned by every race, faith community, and Chicagoan and treated as a hate crime, just as the swastika was.”
Several members of the Council’s Black Caucus also condemned the incident in statements to Block Club Chicago.
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“There is no good reason to burn a cross in the middle of a public park,” said Ald. Maria Hadden (49th) said: “I just think there was bad intent here and that this was probably a hate crime in some way, shape or form.”
Fox News Digital has reached out to Mayor Johnson’s office and the White House for comment.
