A pardoned January 6 rioter who led a rally in support of federal immigration officers in Minneapolis was driven away by counter-protesters on Saturday. Jake Lang, who received clemency from President Donald Trump, was chased from the city's federal courthouse and targeted with water balloons in sub-freezing temperatures.
Lang had promised to burn a Quran during the demonstration, which he called a 'CRUSADER MARCH' on 'Little Somalia,' referencing the large Somali population in Minnesota. The event drew criticism as racist and Islamophobic. Counter-protesters from the People's Action Coalition Against Trump gathered to oppose what they described as a 'hateful anti-Islam rally.'
Video footage showed Lang surrounded by counter-protesters pulling at his clothes. He later claimed on social media that he was stabbed, though footage showed him walking away with what appeared to be blood on his neck. The rally occurred amid a surge of federal immigration agents in Minneapolis following two shootings by ICE officers, one of which killed a mother of three.
State and local officials have sought to expel federal immigration officers from Minnesota. Mayor Jacob Frey told ICE to 'get the f*** out,' and the state sued the Trump administration over the surge. The White House vowed to intensify enforcement and accused Democrats of supporting violence against law enforcement.
Lang, who served four years in jail for attacking police at the Capitol on January 6, 2021, has a history of anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim rhetoric. He previously ran for a U.S. Senate seat in Florida.
