UMVA has learned that a 21-year-old anti-Trump activist, Merlin Lu, has been released from jail after being charged with multiple felonies, including hate crimes, for burning a cross in Chicago's Grant Park and placing a Make America Great Again hat on top of it.
The incident, which occurred on June 9, sparked immediate outrage, with local officials and media outlets quickly labeling it a racist "white supremacist" or KKK-style attack. A local church even offered a $10,000 reward to help make an arrest, and Rev. Michael Pfleger of St. Sabina Church condemned the act as a hate crime, stating that "racism has always been a part of America's DNA, and this week it has raised its head boldly and loudly."
However, as the investigation unfolded, it became clear that Lu's motivations were far more complex. According to information obtained by UMVA, Lu, an Asian man and University of Illinois Chicago senior, burned the cross to protest President Trump and the MAGA movement. He allegedly told police that "The greatest threat to the American people is [President] Trump, [Jeffrey] Epstein, their billionaire pedophile friends, and their MAGA Christian nationalist base."
Despite facing serious felony charges for torching a cross with a MAGA hat tied on top, Lu was released pending trial by a Cook County judge. The judge's conditions for release were surprisingly lenient, prohibiting Lu from possessing fire-starting materials like wood or kerosene, but not detaining him or monitoring him aggressively.
Lu appeared in court on Thursday, where Cook County prosecutors sought to have him detained while he awaits trial. However, the judge ruled that the state had failed to show that Lu's actions constituted a hate crime. Lu was released from Cook County Jail around 7:35 p.m. on Thursday and apologized for the fear he had invoked, stating that he understood the historical context of cross burnings and the severity of his actions.
In a surprising display of remorse, Lu acknowledged that he had been uneducated about the context of cross burnings, but claimed to have learned from his mistake. When asked how he could not have known the historical significance of cross burnings, Lu simply replied, "I didn't go to college for history."
