A controversial US political candidate was left with blood running down his neck after being violently pulled from a ledge and punched during hostile protests in Minneapolis on Saturday.
Confrontation at City Hall
Jacob Lang, an aspiring conservative lawmaker running for a Florida Senate seat, organised what he called an 'anti-fraud' march. The demonstration, which began at Minneapolis City Hall, was quickly dwarfed and confronted by a much larger counter-protest opposing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) actions.
Videos from the scene show the situation turning physically aggressive. Lang, who had been shouting into a microphone demanding Somalis be "sent back to Africa," was standing on a building ledge when counter-protesters grabbed his legs and pulled him into the crowd. As he was forced through the mob, an unidentified man threw several punches at the back of Lang's head.
The political hopeful was later pictured with a single line of blood running down the back of his neck. The full extent of his injuries is unclear, and it is not known if any arrests were made. The Minneapolis Police Department has been contacted for comment.
A Background of Insurrection and Inflammatory Rhetoric
This is not Lang's first encounter with violent political turmoil. He is a January 6 insurrectionist, accused of battling Capitol Police with a baseball bat and shield during the 2021 riot in Washington DC. He spent over four years in jail awaiting trial before receiving a pardon from former President Donald Trump, who included him among 1,500 pardons.
Lang's protest on Saturday, dubbed the 'March Against Minnesota Fraud,' referenced alleged fraud at a Somali daycare in the Twin Cities. During the event, he repeated inflammatory claims that Somalis were replacing white Americans. His group of roughly a dozen supporters was heavily outnumbered. At the start of their march, they played the song 'Ice Ice Baby' in support of the ICE agency, while counter-protesters held up signs with crossed-out Nazi symbols.
Broader Tensions in Minnesota
The confrontation occurred against a backdrop of heightened tension in Minnesota. Some 3,000 ICE agents and Border Patrol officers have descended on Minneapolis and St. Paul in recent weeks, a move Trump has justified by citing a scandal involving stolen federal funds for social-welfare programmes.
Protests against these immigration enforcement actions have grown larger and more heated since an ICE agent fatally shot US citizen and mother of three, Renee Nicole Good, on January 7. The situation has pitted Minnesota's Democratic leadership against the Trump administration, with the Justice Department opening an investigation into Governor Tim Walz and Mayor Jacob Frey.
Authorities were on high alert for Saturday's duelling demonstrations, with Minneapolis police in SWAT gear deploying downtown. The National Guard was also put on standby. Lang had vowed to burn copies of the Quran and march to the Cedar Riverside neighbourhood, home to many Somali immigrants, but residents pledged to blockade the area.
Jacob Lang is campaigning for the Florida Senate seat vacated by Marco Rubio. On his social media, he has described himself as a former 'political prisoner' and has stated his aim is to secure the United States for white Christians.
