Chicago student says cross burning in city park was anti-Trump MAGA protest, not racism

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. ©2026 FOX News Network, LLC. All rights reserved. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Market data provided by Factset. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Legal Statement. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by LSEG. NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said an 18-year-old "Run the Nazis Out of New York City" counter-protester lit and threw an "ignited device" during a gathering on Saturday. (NYPD News via X) A 21-year-old college student has come forward to claim responsibility for burning a cross in a popular Chicago park last week, but denied he was making a racist statement despite city leaders initially condemning it as an act of hate. A University of Illinois Chicago senior told NBC 5 Chicago on Monday that he was the person seen leaving the scene at Grant Park last week, where onlookers filmed a cross in flames. The man explained he was protesting President Donald Trump and had put a red hat on the cross to symbolize the MAGA hat. He said he did not realize that the protest would be viewed as racial. "I did know about this historical relevance beforehand," the