A far-right rally meant to rile up Minneapolis over immigration and Islam collapsed Saturday under the weight of its own spectacle, ending with white supremacist influencer Jake Lang fleeing City Hall in tears—escorted to safety by young Black men, the very people he has spent years vilifying online.
Lang, a pardoned January 6 defendant and Florida U.S. Senate candidate, arrived downtown in a flak vest, promising confrontation. Instead, he was overwhelmed by hundreds of counter-protesters who drowned out his chants, pelted him with eggs and water balloons, and boxed him in against City Hall windows.
The rally quickly dissolved into a harrowing retreat.
Several videos from the scene show Lang bloodied and defeated as the crowd surged.
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The moment that cut through the chaos came at the end. As Lang was hustled away, two young Black men shielded him from further harm and guided him toward a waiting SUV.
The episode ignited a flood of reaction online.
“Notice the look of terror on Jake Lang’s face,” one influencer said in a video posted to Threads. “And as he’s escorted to safety, he looks like a submissive dog. And in his moment of terror, probably more terror than he’s ever felt, he was embraced and saved and protected by two young Black men. Sh-t makes me a little emotional. Because that’s some beautiful sh-t. That is some sh-t that is so powerful that it can change people’s hearts.”
The commentator in the video said Lang has a long track record of claiming that white men are being pushed to the side, adding that it was ironic that Black men had jumped in to protect him.
The scene played out against a backdrop of rising tensions in Minneapolis, where protests have intensified after an ICE agent fatally shot Renee Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, earlier this month. Demonstrators had already gathered near City Hall when Lang arrived just before noon, according to the Minneapolis Police Department. His pro-ICE, anti-Islam event drew a throng of counter-protesters who surrounded the building. Lang was flanked by just a handful of supporters, who were quickly overwhelmed and unable to help as he was chased off.
Lang had advertised the rally online as a “March Against Minnesota Fraud” and said he intended to “burn a Quran” on the steps of City Hall, which did not happen. What did unfold was a sustained confrontation: chants, shoving, snowballs, ice water and the seizure of hate signs. At least one person was forced by the crowd to remove his shirt.
Police deployed pepper balls and tear gas to separate groups, then issued a dispersal order.
Lang was left with visible bruises and scrapes, with blood trickling down the back of his neck. No arrests were made.
Later, in a social media post, Lang claimed he had been “nearly ripped limb from limb,” adding, “I was just literally lynched by an anti white mob of liberals & illegal immigrants- I’m at the hospital now getting staples in my skull…” He then called on President Donald Trump to “SEND IN THE NATIONAL GUARD.”
Police said no official reports of an assault were filed and disputed Lang’s claims that city leaders ordered officers to stand down. Witnesses said Lang was later kicked out of a downtown hotel and finally whisked out of the city.
Online, the episode landed with derision.
“If you walked away from it, then it wasn’t a literal lynching, Jake. Hope that clears things up,” one person wrote, summing up the overall outrage over Lang’s framing of what happened.
“Lynched by water balloons? says the guy who beat a cop with a baseball bat on January 6th. These ‘alpha’ males are the biggest bitches on the planet. Explain why they’re too pu—y to join the military,” added another.
“I didn’t know who Jake Lang was until now but I am so here for this,” someone wrote on another thread.
Others reveled in Lang’s FAFO moment. “Watching Jake Lang f—k around in Minnesota was an unexpected weekend treat,” someone said. Another added: “F—king. Awesome.”
Not everyone saw it as transformative. “He will still hate Black people,” one commenter replied to the viral clip. Another person added, “Jake Lang labelled the black men who helped him as a couple of the ‘good ones,’ then continued on his racist incel crusade like nothing ever happened.”
On a separate thread, conservative voices objected to the crowd’s tactics: “What hatred showing you that you’re more hatred towards free speech? People have the right to speak,” the post read.
“Bunch of pu$$y$ had to jump him. Typical liberals throw tantrums act like children and then act like they didn’t do anything,” another fumed. “I don’t see him running anywhere. I hope he comes back tomorrow and mops the whole street with your faces.”
Others blamed Lang for his own undoing.
“It’s like he did this to himself!!” one person wrote. This was like walking into a Jewish prison in a Naz! Uniform and expect to be welcomed and treated well with open arms.. Like what did he actually expect to happen?”
Lang is known for staging small, media-thirsty rallies across the country, often targeting Black and Muslim communities and immigrant populations.
Last year in April, when a white teenager from North Texas was stabbed to death at a track meet, the killing quickly became a rallying cry for white supremacists pushing a narrative of Black-on-white violence—despite the victim’s own father rejecting that framing.
Lang was among the most visible figures to seize on the killing. He led a sparsely attended rally at the stadium where the stabbing occurred, declaring the death an act of anti-white violence and attempting to enlist the victim’s father into his campaign.
But the father publicly rebuked Lang, accusing him of exploiting his son’s death to sow racial divisions. Lang responded with racist attacks and escalated rhetoric, using the case to fuel a broader national push tied to his white supremacist activism.
Lang received clemency from Trump despite having been charged with assaulting a police officer with a baseball bat, civil disorder and other crimes. Since his release, Lang has leaned into notoriety, launching fundraising efforts, flirting with militia organizing and announcing a Senate run in Florida for the seat vacated by Marco Rubio.
