Far-right influencer Jake Lang was arrested after clashes erupted at his rally outside Minneapolis City Hall. Police say Lang and his supporters drove towards counter-protesters and sprayed chemical irritants during the confrontation. Lang was arrested on probable cause for riot.
Edward Jacob Jake Lang Arrested After Second Minneapolis City Hall Rally
Minneapolis police arrested white supremacist provocateur Edward Jacob “Jake” Lang Saturday afternoon after hundreds of Minneapolis residents came out to protest his second hate rally in front of city hall this year. After a less than 10 minute exchange and Lang and his security left, the police department charged Lang and several others with probable cause riot, a misdemeanor, and impounded the two vehicles they used for the event. Before the arrests, police allowed Lang to drive along the sidewalk in front of city hall. This marks the second time Lang met fierce resistance while demonstrating in the City of Lakes, with his last anti-Islam march resulting in him needing stitches in the back of his head and being rescued by the very people he preaches hate against. What separates this display, other than him hiding away in a truck and hiring private security guards to accompany him, is the city charging him for a crime.
Lang appeared in the bed of a black Honda Ridgeline followed by a white SUV with flashing lights in its front window before the anticipated start time, with a megaphone and a large sign announcing that Jake Lang […] hates n*****.
Whatever Lang was shouting was quickly drowned out by the cacophony of counter-protesters who swarmed the truck, which drove on the sidewalk alongside city hall. Lang first marketed his march as the “N-word March,” he spelled it out in full on his AI created flyer. Lang said the event was to protest the verdict against Rochester, Minnesota, resident Shiloh Hendrix, who was found guilty of disorderly conduct in July after being filmed in April last year calling an 8-year-old boy the same racial slur at a playground.
The day before the event, Lang began marketing it as the Crusader Freedom of Speech Rally,
ostensibly to fit the “crusade” that began with his last appearance in Dearborn, Michigan. In the original flyer, Hendrix was teased as a potential speaker, as if this event would have gone any other way. Five others appeared alongside Lang in the bed of the truck, including Jayden Scott, 23, of Bay City, Michigan, who held a large, white crucifix resembling a thin, picket fence. Scott, one of Lang’s Christian crusaders, was recently denied custody of his children and has been following Lang while missing his own court dates. Also in the truck was John William-Kei Irwin, 32, of Sterling Heights, Michigan, wearing a gray Under Armor hoodie and waving an American Flag.
Minneapolis Police Department Responds to Vehicles Driven on Sidewalk
Far-right activist Jake Lang and several members of his group were arrested Saturday after two vehicles associated with Lang drove onto a sidewalk outside Minneapolis City Hall toward a crowd of people gathered there, according to the Minneapolis Police Department. According to police, the incident began shortly before noon Saturday when Lang and his group arrived at City Hall in two vehicles. Officers said both vehicles drove onto the sidewalk toward a group of people assembled outside the building. Minneapolis police officers then “moved in” to force the vehicles off the sidewalk, according to a social media statement from the department. Police said both Lang’s group and counter-protesters deployed mace during the confrontation, while no Minneapolis officers used mace themselves.
Following the incident, police tracked down Lang’s two vehicles to separate locations: one was stopped near Washington Avenue and Interstate 35W, and the other was stopped in Bloomington near Lindau Lane and IKEA Way. Police said all occupants in the vehicles, including Lang, were arrested on probable cause of riot, and both vehicles were impounded. Four additional arrests were made at the City Hall scene itself, according to police.
Interim Police Chief Bill Peterson Reports Officer Injuries
Interim Police Chief Bill Peterson said at a subsequent news briefing that three officers were injured during the confrontation, ranging from an ankle rolled over by one of Lang’s vehicles to an officer struck in the head with what Peterson described as a “hard object.” One injured officer was hospitalized and later released. The four additional arrests made near City Hall were on suspicion of disorderly conduct and assault, among other alleged violations, according to Peterson.
Jan 6 Rioter Jake Lang Served Four Years in Prison Before Presidential Pardon
Lang, 30, served four years in prison for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, where he was charged with inflicting bodily injury on police officers. He received a presidential pardon from Donald Trump in January 2025 and has since built a public profile as a far-right activist, provocateur and political candidate, currently running in the 2026 Republican U.S. Senate primary in Florida.
Saturday’s arrest was not Lang’s first confrontation in Minneapolis. According to the Star Tribune, he staged an anti-Islam rally outside City Hall in January following the fatal shooting of Renee Good by an ICE agent during a federal immigration crackdown in the city. Lang said he returned to Minneapolis Saturday to advocate on behalf of a Rochester woman who had used a racial slur.