A large, burning cross was discovered at a Chicago park on Tuesday afternoon, and police said they are investigating how it ended up there and the motive behind it.
Video taken by a motorist shows the wooden cross engulfed in bright orange flames as it leans against a tree in Grant Park, a popular area near Lake Michigan. The Chicago Fire Department confirmed the flaming object was a cross, and said officials put out the fire.
Chicago Police said there were no reports of injuries and that they are investigating the motive and circumstances around the “object on fire."
Keinika Carlton, 43, was driving home from running errands with her daughter and mother-in-law when they saw the cross on fire. She said she felt a combination of shock, sadness, disgust, as well as curiosity.
“Is this a racial thing? Is this a religious thing?" she said. “As Black women, of course, our first thought is racial, because burning crosses are known to be used as a tactic, an act of violence toward Black Americans in the South.”
Carlton estimated the cross was at least 6 feet (1.83 meters) tall. The experience was new to all of them, including Carlton's mother-in-law, who grew up in Kentucky.
Carlton said as they slowed down to shoot a video of the flames, she saw around her other cars slowing down and people walking nearby, staring at the cross burning.
While the motive behind the burning cross was not immediately clear, cross burnings in the U.S. have historically been seen as “symbols of hate” that are “inextricably intertwined with the history of the Ku Klux Klan,” according to a 2003 U.S. Supreme Court decision written by the late Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. The justices ruled that the First Amendment allows bans on cross burnings only when they are intended to intimidate because the action “is a particularly virulent form of intimidation.”
Alyna Carlton, 22, said she never thought she would see something like that in her lifetime.
“It kind of really opened my eyes, had me realize that I’m not that far removed from the past.”
This grab from a video taken by motorist Keinika Carlton shows a wooden cross engulfed in bright orange flames as it leans against a tree in Grant Park, Chicago, Illinois, on Tuesday, July 9, 2026.(Keinika Carlton via AP)
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Guards on board a cargo ship off the coast of Yemen in the Gulf of Aden exchanged fire Wednesday with gunmen in a small boat on Wednesday, the British military said.
The British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said the guards managed to drive the gunmen off.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.
Yemen’s Houthi rebels have said they will resume their attacks against Israel-affiliated ships moving through the Red Sea. Meanwhile, Somali pirates have also become more active in the region.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The United States launched airstrikes early Wednesday against Iran after blaming Tehran for the crash of an American attack helicopter, prompting new attacks from Iran and further widening the retaliatory strikes that threaten to derail talks to end to the war.
Iran launched attacks on sites in Bahrain, Kuwait, which both sounded alerts and fired air defenses in response. Jordan also reported shooting down five missiles that Iran shot at an air base hosting U.S. forces.
Since the U.S. and Israel started the war with attacks on Iran on Feb. 28, the conflict has shaken the global economy, driven up energy prices around the world and made many basics, including food, more expensive.
Officials have been unable to turn the April ceasefire into a deal to permanently end the conflict, particularly as Israel intensifies and expands its military campaign in Lebanon against the Iranian-backed militia Hezbollah.
The downing of the Apache attack helicopter and the strikes by the U.S. military further strained the ceasefire a day after Iran and Israel exchanged fire for the first time since the fragile truce took effect. Iranian state television said Tuesday that the Israeli attacks killed at least two members of the country’s air-defense units.
Fighter jets from the U.S. Air Force and Navy conducted the strikes in Iran, the U.S. military’s Central Command said, targeting “air defense, ground control stations, and surveillance radar sites.” Iran acknowledged strikes around Bandar Abbas and Qeshm Island, but gave no details on the damage.
“The operation was a proportional response to recent attacks on U.S. forces and international commercial ships transiting regional waters,” Central Command said.
Iran’s top diplomat said foreign military forces near its territory “are at constant risk” and later vowed that there would be a response to the new U.S. strikes.
Iranian forces “will leave no attack or threat unanswered,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on X. “Leave our region if you want to be safe.”
Jordan said Wednesday it shot down five incoming missiles launched by Iran, which Iran said targeted the Muwaffaq Salti Air Base. That air base has hosted American F-35 fighter jets and other aircraft.
Jordan’s state-run Petra news agency carried the statement from its military, which added that there were no injuries in the attack and that explosives experts had examined the debris from the interceptions.
A U.S. Army AH-64 Apache attack helicopter went down near the Strait of Hormuz after colliding with an Iranian drone, according to a U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation.
It wasn’t clear whether the collision was intentional, and official statements only said the crash is under investigation. CNN, CBS News and other outlets earlier reported the collision.
In the first known operation of its kind by the American military, a drone boat rescued both of the helicopter's aviators at 3:30 a.m. local time Tuesday, about two hours after their aircraft went down during a patrol off the coast of Oman, U.S. Central Command said.
Trump said both crew were “safe and uninjured.”
The U.S. service members were spotted and picked up by a drone boat that took them to another location on the water, where they were picked up by a helicopter, said Capt. Tim Hawkins, a spokesman for U.S. Central Command.
AH-64 Apache helicopters have been a key asset for the American military as it enforces a blockade on Iranian crude oil shipments and tankers, seeking to pressure Tehran into a deal. The helicopters have also been used by the United Arab Emirates to shoot down Iranian drones.
Before he accused Iran of downing the U.S. helicopter, Trump expressed renewed optimism over negotiations with Iran, but didn’t say why there was reason for optimism.
Mediators, led predominantly by Pakistan, have been trying for weeks to get a deal across the line. However, both Iran and the U.S. have taken hardline positions.
The U.S. wants to see Iran give up its stockpile of highly enriched uranium, which is believed to have been buried by American airstrikes during the 12-day war in 2025. But Iran is refusing that and demanding relief from sanctions. It also wants the release of frozen assets even before a final agreement is in place, something rejected by Trump.
Israel's military said on Wednesday it had launched multiple strikes in southern Lebanon over the past day, targeting Hezbollah infrastructure.
The continued fighting between Israel and Hezbollah is still a top Iranian priority, while Lebanon's government has been taking an increasingly hard line against Hezbollah but remains unable to disarm the powerful militia.
Associated Press writers David Rising in Bangkok; Michelle L. Price in New York; Will Weissert in Washington; Bassem Mroue in Beirut; Munir Ahmed in Islamabad; and Russ Bynum in Savannah, Georgia, contributed to this report.
People take shelter as air raid sirens warn of incoming Iranian missiles in Ramat Gan, Israel, Monday, June 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
A projectile streaks through the sky over central Israel during an Iranian missile attack, Sunday, June 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
A cleric checks his cell phone on stage in front of a screen displaying portraits of the late Iranian revolutionary founder Ayatollah Khomeini, left, late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, center, and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, during a pro-government gathering in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, June 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
A woman walks past a mural depicting a U.S. aircraft carrier under missile attack in downtown Tehran, Iran, Monday, June 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
