Many on the left were disturbed by the appearance of a burning cross at a park in Chicago, but the man who claims he put it up says he is not racist and was protesting President Donald Trump.
Police released video of a man they called a person of interest after someone set up the cross and lit it on fire on June 10 at Grant Park in downtown Chicago.
'I don't wanna wait until he may or may not get impeached. I want him gone right now.'
Community members immediately blamed racism and hatred, and one even mentioned "the South."
"I was horrified; I was angry!" said Rev. Michael Pfleger of the Faith Community of Saint Sabina in an interview with WGN-TV.
"This is a decades-old symbol of hate and supremacy and the Ku Klux Klan. This is their symbol," he added.
"This is something that's been used in the South to harm and scare black Americans, so it was very distasteful," said Keinika Carlton, who saw the cross burning and captured it on video.
"There's no way to explain this nicely, except it's hate!" Pfleger added in another interview with WBBM-TV.
"A burning cross is not a prank. It is not a misunderstanding. It is one of the most recognizable symbols of racial terror in American history," said attorney Benjamin Crump, known for representing many race-related cases.
"Hate cannot be normalized, excused, or ignored. Those responsible must be identified and held accountable," Crump continued.
"This isn't random vandalism. It's a direct message of hate meant to intimidate Black people in the middle of downtown Chicago. How many more times will racists use this symbol of terror in public before it's treated like the hate crime it is?" an anti-racism account said on social media.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation said it was also investigating the incident.
A few days later, a 21-year-old Asian man claimed to have set up the cross and said he didn't even know it was a symbol of racism.
"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," University of Illinois Chicago senior Merlin Lu said to WMAQ-TV.
Lu said the cross was intended as a protest against Trump's alleged Christian-nationalist supporters and the "Make America Great Again" movement and that he had put a red hat on top of the cross to try to get this message across.
"I put a red hat to signify the MAGA hat, the Make America Great Again hat," he added. "So that was, yeah, that's what I tied on top."
"I don't want to wait till his term ends," Lu said of the president. "I don't wanna wait until he may or may not get impeached. I want him gone right now."
Lu was asked how he came up with the idea for the burning-cross protest.
"Just it came up to my head one day," he said. "I wanted to find something that I could do by myself, like no organization, no friends."
WMAQ said Lu is a native of Naperville.
"He's just scamming people," Lu added about Trump.
"I think that's a great reflection of how this country works right now, where money controls everything. Money has power over health care. Money has power over transportation," he continued.
Lu said he was thinking of surrendering to the police, and WMAQ reported in an update that the police confirmed the arrest of a person of interest.
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A knife-wielding male hijacked a Chicago Transit Authority bus in the middle of the night earlier this week, but the wise bus operator used her experience and wits to pull off a daring escape.
Police said the suspect was aboard a southbound No. 53 CTA bus just before 2:40 a.m. Wednesday in the 2400 block of North Pulaski Road in the Belmont Gardens neighborhood when he pulled out a knife and demanded the bus not stop, WLS-TV reported.
'She could see him through the mirror, what he was doing, jabbing with the knife, like he was going to stab her.'
The bus driver, a 57-year-old woman, tripped a silent alarm, the CTA told the station.
After a bus supervisor located the bus, the bus driver escaped out a window in the 900 block of North Clark Street, police told WLS.
The bus traveled about 6.5 miles after leaving its normal route, the station said.
The suspect got off the bus and ran into Washington Park, WLS said, adding that police took him into custody in the 100 block of East Chestnut Street just before 3:20 a.m.
The bus driver's union leaders described what they saw on the bus' surveillance video, the station said.
"She could see him through the mirror, what he was doing, jabbing with the knife like he was going to stab her, but only doing it in a motion where she could see through the mirror," Michelle Townsend, second vice president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 241, told WLS.
The station said it's unclear what the suspect wanted.
Police said charges are pending, and no injuries were reported, WLS added.
RELATED: 7 females, 2 males accused of ganging up on, beating up train passenger in Chicago
Acting CTA President Nora Leerhsen said there was a 47% drop in serious crime across the transit system compared to last year, the station reported, adding that buses saw a 40% drop.
Leerhsen added to WLS that Chicago police officers' hours patrolling the transit system have increased by 75% since December, especially during evening and overnight hours.
In March, Cook County Sheriff's officers also began patrols, the station said.
WLS said the increased security comes after President Donald Trump threatened funding due to violent attacks in the CTA system — including one last November when Lawrence Reed allegedly set a woman on fire on the Blue Line.
The station added that violent crimes across the CTA system — including stations and platforms — "remain at a high level, with 779 violent crimes committed in a 12-month period between April of last year and this year."
The CTA over the summer will launch a pilot program featuring violence interrupters and crisis intervention specialists who hope to help stop crime before it happens, WLS reported.
One person walking out of the Red Line's Roosevelt station Wednesday weighed in on CTA safety, the station said: "It's a traveling hotel. You know what I'm saying. It is dangerous."
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A 39-year-old mother is accused of pulling a gun on children outside a Chicago elementary school and making threats because she thought one of the students had hit her son, who also attends the school, CWB Chicago reported, citing prosecutors.
The outlet said Kenosha Willis allegedly confronted kids outside O’Keeffe School of Excellence in the 6900 block of South Merrill Avenue on the afternoon of May 6.
'They don’t know who they messing with.'
Prosecutors said Willis pulled a black handgun from her purse and pointed it at two children while making threats, the outlet said.
Willis is accused of pointing the gun at a 9-year-old boy’s head, the outlet added, citing a Chicago Police Department report.
Prosecutors said one of the children called 911 as Willis walked away, the outlet noted, adding that a school security guard encountered a group of children running from the area who reported that a woman had a gun.
Willis allegedly approached the security guard and began making additional threats about shooting the school and students, the outlet said: “They don’t know who they messing with. I’ll shoot this b**** up.”
As Willis left the scene, the guard flagged down a Chicago police officer who stopped Willis in her vehicle and found a firearm in her purse, the outlet said, citing prosecutors.
Judge Luciano Panici Jr. ordered Willis detained, CWB Chicago noted.
Willis is charged with making a threat to a person at a school, four counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, aggravated unlawful possession of a firearm, and violating the Illinois concealed carry act.
She remains in Cook County Jail with no bond as of Friday morning; her next hearing also is scheduled for Friday.
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A 33-year-old Chicago male who's accused of telling a 13-year-old he likes "little boys and girls" before shoving and holding the victim against a wall has been sentenced, CWB Chicago reported.
Devontay Kenny on February 24, 2025, followed the 13-year-old boy down West Division Street in Humboldt Park, the outlet said.
Court records indicate Kenny has several felony convictions for narcotics-related charges as well as a 2017 conviction for aggravated robbery, the outlet said.
Kenny repeatedly tried to get the victim's attention, saying he likes "little boys and girls," the outlet added, citing court filings.
But when the boy refused to stop, prosecutors said Kenny grabbed the boy by the sweater with both hands and pushed him against a brick wall to keep him from moving away, the outlet said.
After a struggle, the victim broke free and ran to a nearby convenience store for help, the outlet said.
When witnesses confronted Kenny, officials said he tried to convince them he was the boy’s uncle, the outlet said.
Kenny pleaded guilty to one count of unlawful restraint in connection with the incident, the outlet said, adding that prosecutors dropped child abduction and aggravated battery charges.
On Monday, Judge John Lyke handed down Kenny’s sentence: six years in prison, the outlet said.
As you might imagine, Kenny has had other run-ins with the law.
In fact, just one week before the incident with the 13-year-old boy, Kenny was placed on a nighttime curfew with an electronic monitoring bracelet after police said he was distributing heroin and cocaine, the outlet said, citing court records.
However, prosecutors dropped those drug charges three weeks after Kenny was charged with assaulting the 13-year-old boy, the outlet said.
What's more, court records indicate Kenny has several felony convictions for narcotics-related charges as well as a 2017 conviction for aggravated robbery, the outlet noted.
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Seven females and two males are accused of physically attacking one train passenger in Chicago last week, police said.
Police called the crime an aggravated battery.
'If confronted by an assailant/offender, remain calm and never pursue. Press the emergency button and alert the transit attendant,' police said.
The incident took place just after 9:30 p.m. last Tuesday in the 600 block of South State Street aboard a train in the Chicago Loop neighborhood, police said.
Police provided photos of the suspects. (Note: One of the suspects is shown twice — in the bottom far-right photos of the composite image next to the headline.)
Police also provided the following descriptions of each suspect:
Police cautioned citizens to "be aware of your surroundings and remember your location, bus/train car number, route or train line, train car number, and direction of travel. If confronted by an assailant/offender, remain calm and never pursue. Press the emergency button and alert the transit attendant. Call 911 immediately, provide detailed description of location and assailant."
Police added that those with any information about this incident should contact Public Transportation Detectives at 312-745-4447 or submit anonymous tips at CPDTIP.com and use reference RD #JK189284.
Police said another transit-related aggravated battery took place just after 4 p.m. Friday — this time on a CTA Red Line platform in the 1200 block of North Clark Street.
Police said the victim — a 23-year-old female — was waiting on the train platform when one of the individuals pictured above pulled her to the ground by her hair, struck her on her face with a closed fist, and kicked her head and body.
Another one of the females pictured above assisted the other female by blocking bystander attempts to help the victim, police said.
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All too often, acts of left-wing violence and extremism are ignored because the left is obsessed with the rather non-existent threat of right-wing extremism.
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