A person is in custody in a Chicago cross burning investigation, police say

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CHICAGO (AP) — A person is in custody in an investigation of a large cross set on fire in a well-known Chicago park, police said Tuesday.

The burning cross was discovered June 9 in Grant Park, where Barack Obama delivered his acceptance speech when he was elected the nation’s first Black president in 2008.

A 21-year-old college student told WMAQ-TV that he was the shirtless person in an image distributed by police when they were looking for a suspect. But police did not immediately say Tuesday if he's the person in custody.

The man said he protesting President Donald Trump and not making a racist statement.

“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,” the man told the TV station. “Cause my protest has nothing to do with race, nothing to do with gender.”

Cross burnings in the U.S. have historically been seen as symbols of hate and intimidation against Black people and have often been connected to the Ku Klux Klan.

The Chicago Police Department's communications office confirmed that a person was in custody in connection with the case, but no other details were released.

The man interviewed on WMAQ said he was protesting the “ruling class” and Christian nationalists who support Trump. He said he put a red MAGA hat on the cross.