A pardoned January 6 rioter who led a pro-ICE rally in Minneapolis was chased from the scene by counter-protesters on Saturday. Jake Lang, granted clemency by President Donald Trump on his first day in office, was targeted with water balloons in sub-freezing temperatures as demonstrators shouted him down outside the federal courthouse.
Lang had promised to burn a Quran during the event, which he branded a 'CRUSADER MARCH' on 'Little Somalia,' referencing Minneapolis's large Somali population. His group played 'Ice Ice Baby' and railed against immigrants, claiming they were 'replacing' white people. The rally drew sharp opposition from critics who derided it as racist and Islamophobic.
Counter-protesters from the People's Action Coalition Against Trump arrived in dozens, chanting anti-Nazi slogans and throwing snowballs at anti-immigration protesters. Video footage showed Lang being surrounded and pulled at, with what appeared to be blood on his neck. He later claimed on social media that he was 'stabbed by a crazie white commie leftist rioter.'
The dueling demonstrations unfolded after hundreds of federal immigration agents flooded into Minneapolis following a fatal ICE shooting of Renee Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, on January 7. The incident sparked political outrage and protests, with Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey telling ICE to 'get the f*** out.' Minnesota officials have sued the Trump administration over the 'unprecedented' surge of agents.
Lang, who was charged with attacking police officers with a bat at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, spent four years in jail before Trump's pardon. He has since mounted a long-shot bid for a US Senate seat in Florida and regularly rails against immigrants and Muslims on social media.
