crime
A Young Protester’s Cross‑Burning Gets a Light‑Touch Bail
June 20, 2026
A 21‑year‑old student from the University of Illinois Chicago, named Merlin Lu, sparked a citywide debate when he set fire to a wooden cross in Grant Park and placed a “Make America Great Again” hat on top. The act, initially described by some officials and media as a racist or white‑supremacist att
