{"id":2615034,"date":"2026-06-17T08:02:02","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T12:02:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/chicago-cross-burning-is-latest-example-of-left-wing-extremism-being-blamed-on-gop\/"},"modified":"2026-06-17T08:04:33","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T12:04:33","slug":"chicago-cross-burning-is-latest-example-of-left-wing-extremism-being-blamed-on-gop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/chicago-cross-burning-is-latest-example-of-left-wing-extremism-being-blamed-on-gop\/","title":{"rendered":"Left Blames Chicago Cross Burning On GOP"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">14<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fchicago-cross-burning-is-latest-example-of-left-wing-extremism-being-blamed-on-gop%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2615034&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The article examines recent incidents of vandalism and violence, focusing on a burning cross found in Chicago&#8217;s Grant Park. Initial media reports and statements from Democratic officials suggested that the perpetrators were likely associated with white supremacy, implicitly blaming Republicans. Governor JB Pritzker linked the act to the growth of racism and fascism, with some suspecting subliminal blame on Republicans due to Democrat accusations against Trump and the right. Chicago resident Frank Chapman pointed out the leniency shown toward those involved in the January 6 Capitol riot, implying such attitudes embolden white supremacists like the cross-burner. Similarly, Gina Miranda Samuels attributed the cross burning to Trump, claiming current leadership fosters an environment of hatred.<\/p>\n<p>Though, the suspect, Merlin Lu, a University of Illinois student, later claimed obligation, stating he lit the cross as a protest against Trump, not racially motivated.The police have not confirmed his arrest. Despite this,Democrats quickly used the incident to smear Republicans,paralleling past attempts to blame conservatives for acts of violence that later proved unfounded-such as the vandalism at a church after Trump&#8217;s election,which was eventually traced back to a church employee. The piece argues that left-wing violence and extremism are often overlooked or misrepresented because of a focus on supposed right-wing threats, suggesting that it might be time for Democrats to acknowledge and address violence originating from their side.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>When a burning cross was found at a Chicago park last week, the media and Democrats already apparently knew who was responsible. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cA large burning cross \u2014 a historic symbol of hate and intimidation against Black Americans \u2014 was discovered in a Chicago park where former President Barack Obama famously delivered his acceptance speech when he was elected the nation\u2019s first Black president,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/cross-burning-chicago-fire-department-e61c932c3633516f55e32da3fd294dec\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The Associated Press<\/a> (AP) reported on June 10. <\/p>\n<p>Given the framing, readers may have been under the impression that police were searching for a white supremacist, a racist, and, given how the left has broadly painted Republicans as both of those things, a Republican.<\/p>\n<p>Gov. JB Pritzker <a href=\"https:\/\/chicago.suntimes.com\/news\/2026\/06\/11\/pritzker-summons-words-of-the-late-rev-jesse-jackson-to-decry-cross-burning-in-grant-park\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">said<\/a> while speaking at Rainbow PUSH\u2019s Coalition annual conference the very next day after the incident: \u201cThe fact that it even occurred at all speaks to what happens when the seeds of racism and fascism grow unchecked in our country.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Given how Pritzker himself has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/pritzker-swiftly-fact-checked-after-claiming-he-never-derided-gop-dictatorship-comparison-pathological\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">compa<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/pritzker-swiftly-fact-checked-after-claiming-he-never-derided-gop-dictatorship-comparison-pathological\">red<\/a> Trump to the Nazi regime and Democrats writ large have accused Republicans (and Trump) of being fascists, it\u2019s hard not to suspect that Pritzker was subliminally blaming Republicans.<\/p>\n<p>Frank Chapman, a Chicago resident and executive director of the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression \u201cpointed to how people who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, were ultimately not punished. President Donald Trump pardoned, commuted prison sentences, or ordered the dismissal of cases for all of the nearly 1,600 people charged in the attack,\u201d as described by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/news\/us-news\/burning-cross-chicago-park-shocks-residents-police-searching-rcna349531\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">NBC News<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-c2dccc\">\u201cThe same kind of people got the same white supremacist mentality as a cross-burning,\u201d Chapman reportedly said. \u201cSo, they figured like they got a license now \u2026 with people pardoned and more or less shaking hands with the devil.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/ca.news.yahoo.com\/police-investigating-large-burning-cross-043544963.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Gina Miranda Samuels<\/a>, faculty director of the Center for the Study of Race, Politics and Culture at the University of Chicago, blamed the cross burning on Trump.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI do think we\u2019re living in a time when we have a president that stokes this kind of thing and invites this type of stuff,\u201d she said. \u201cPeople feel emboldened and are invited to see how far they can go.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Before any facts were known, the assumption that the culprit must be associated with Trump or the right was publicly disseminated by the left.<\/p>\n<p>It turns out that the man who is at least publicly claiming responsibility is Merlin Lu, a University of Illinois Chicago student who said he lit the cross to protest President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n<p>The burning cross was found against a tree in Grant Park, with authorities immediately launching an investigation. Lu told <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcchicago.com\/news\/local\/person-of-interest-in-grant-park-cross-burning-incident-speaks-out\/3949153\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">NBC5<\/a> he \u201cdid know about this historical relevance beforehand, but I didn\u2019t know the severity, how racially motivated it may seem from what I did. Cause my protest has nothing to do with race, nothing to do with gender.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Police have not confirmed nor denied whether Lu is the suspect they have in custody. <\/p>\n<p>In a <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >separate video previously shared<\/a> with NBC5, Lu said he was protesting Trump and didn\u2019t \u201cwant to wait till his term ends \u2026 I want him gone right now.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But instead of waiting for the investigation to complete \u2014 or (apparently) for the suspect himself to come forward \u2014 Democrats pounced on the incident to try and use it to smear Republicans as racist and evil. <\/p>\n<p>Of course the facts got in the way of that narrative \u2014 much like they have in previous acts of Democrat violence or vandalism. <\/p>\n<p>When Charlie Kirk was assassinated, several figures on the left tried to blame Republicans for the murder. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/media\/jimmy-kimmel-suggests-charlie-kirk-assassin-one-maga-gang-despite-reports-leftist-leanings.amp\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Jimmy Kimmel said<\/a>: \u201cWe hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Harvard law professor  emeritus <a href=\"https:\/\/noticias.foxnews.com\/us\/harvard-law-professor-spreads-debunked-rumor-about-charlie-kirk-assassination-suspect\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Laurence Tribe<\/a> said on X: \u201cKirk\u2019s apparent assassin seems to have been ultra-MAGA, exploding the GOP\/MAGA attempt to pin the blame for this tragedy on liberals.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/heathercoxrichardson.substack.com\/p\/september-13-2025\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Heather Cox Richardson<\/a>, a leftist \u201chistorian\u201d said in a post that \u201cthe alleged shooter was not someone on the left. The alleged killer, Tyler Robinson, is a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/kyle-rittenhouse-can-sue-lots-of-people-and-media-for-defamation\/\" title=\"Kyle Rittenhouse Can Sue Lots of ... (and Media) for Defamation\">young white man<\/a> from a Republican, gun enthusiast family, who appears to have embraced the far right, disliking Kirk for being insufficiently radical.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Robinson, however, was reportedly in a relationship with a man who thought he was a woman and, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/interactive\/2025\/09\/16\/us\/tyler-robinson-charges.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">prosecutors<\/a>, Robinson\u2019s mother \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/opinion\/tyler-robinson-prosecutors-evidence-charlie-kirk-shooting-8932449f?mod=author_content_page_1_pos_4\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">explained<\/a> that over the last year or so, Robinson had become more political and had started to lean more to the left \u2014 becoming more pro-gay and trans-rights oriented.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Messages purportedly between Robinson and his lover\/roommate show Robinson saying he  had \u201chad enough of [Kirk\u2019s] hatred. Some hate can\u2019t be negotiated out.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Robinson also engraved the bullets with slogans like \u201cHey Fascist! Catch!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But the left immediately rushed to try and blame Republicans for Kirk\u2019s murder in order to cover for the radicals that their own party has been breeding for years, for acknowledging that Kirk\u2019s alleged murderer was a product of the left\u2019s \u201cfascist\u201d discourse on Republicans would force them to confront the toxicity of their brand \u2014 something they\u2019re unwilling to do. <\/p>\n<p>The same knee-jerk reaction to blame Republicans for violence or \u201chate crimes\u201d happened just days after Trump won the 2016 election. St. David\u2019s Episcopal Church in Bean Blossom, Indiana was vandalized with a swastika, a message saying \u201cHeil Trump,\u201d and \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/graphics\/2019\/local\/hate-crime-hoax-indiana-church\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">fag church<\/a>,\u201d according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wkyc.com\/article\/news\/churches-vandalized-with-trump-inspired-slurs\/95-351530026\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">WKYC<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>WKYC framed the incident as evidence that Trump\u2019s election unleashed a wave of bigotry, noting that the \u201chate crime\u201d came \u201cdays after students in vice president-elect Mike Pence\u2019s hometown taunted other students by chanting \u2018build that wall.&#8217;\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The article included comments from Rev. Kelsey Hutto, who (according to WKYC\u2019s description) \u201csaid there is no doubt the atmosphere in the country has changed since President-elect Donald Trump and his running mate, Pence, were elected on Tuesday.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/6-campus-hate-crimes-that-turned-out-to-be-hoaxes\/\" title=\"6 Campus \u2018... Crimes\u2019 That Turned Out To Be Hoaxes\">story made national headlines<\/a> too, with Stephen Colbert including an image of one of the graffitied walls in his monologue. <\/p>\n<p>But it turns out, the perpetrator wasn\u2019t some right-wing MAGA nut.<\/p>\n<p>According to investigators, the vandalism was actually committed by the church\u2019s own <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/graphics\/2019\/local\/hate-crime-hoax-indiana-church\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">gay organ player<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>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 so much so that it blinds their ability to see an increasingly radical left and as a result, (as is the case with Chicago), the knee jerk reaction from Democrats and the left is to blame Republicans.<\/p>\n<p>But maybe \u2014 just maybe \u2014 it\u2019s time for Democrats to instinctively blame their <em>own<\/em> side at this point. <\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      Brianna Lyman is an elections correspondent at The Federalist. Brianna graduated from Fordham University with a degree in International Political Economy. Her work has been featured on Newsmax, Fox News, Fox Business and RealClearPolitics. Follow Brianna on X: @briannalyman2<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Media and Dems blamed Republicans for Chicago cross<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":74,"featured_media":2615035,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Screenshot-2026-06-16-at-11.32.51-PM-e1781667271519.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[4387,80788,6203,3691,5894],"class_list":["post-2615034","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-chicago","tag-cross-burning","tag-gop","tag-left","tag-politics"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Screenshot-2026-06-16-at-11.32.51-PM-e1781667271519.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2615034","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/74"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2615034"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2615034\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2615038,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2615034\/revisions\/2615038"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2615035"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2615034"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2615034"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2615034"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}