Jan. 6 rioter Jake Lang arrested for damaging ice sculpture at Minnesota State Capitol

Kim Hyatt, Star Tribune on Feb 5, 2026

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ST. PAUL, Minn. — Ahead of a planned rally at the State Capitol this weekend, Jan. 6 rioter Jake Lang was arrested after damaging an ice sculpture on the front steps on Thursday.

Lang, 30, of Lake Worth, Florida, is seen on social media videos kicking down the ice sculpture that spelled out “prosecute ICE” to instead read “pro ICE” after the five letters shattered.

Lt. Mike Lee of the Minnesota State Patrol said Capitol security dispatchers observed Lang damaging the permitted display at 2:30 p.m. Lang was seen leaving the area in a vehicle, and a trooper pulled him over nearby at MLK Jr. Boulevard and University Avenue.

He was arrested without incident and was booked in the Ramsey County Jail on suspicion of criminal damage to property, a felony.

Lang held an anti-Islam rally outside Minneapolis City Hall on Jan. 17, and has organized a pro-ICE rally at the Capitol for Feb. 7.

Protesters plan to show up at the Capitol in opposition to Lang, whom they accuse of inciting hateful, racist rhetoric in Minneapolis, a city on edge as the largest immigration enforcement in the country unfolds.

Lang falsely claimed that he secured a permit for the City Hall rotunda at his last rally. Capitol staff confirmed his claim of securing a permit in the Capitol Rotunda is also false.

Hundreds of protesters chased Lang off in downtown Minneapolis to prevent him from his stated plans to burn a Quran and march to the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood, home to the city’s highest concentration of Somali American residents.

City leaders braced for chaos at Lang’s last rally, with National Guard vehicles staged on highway ramps into Cedar-Riverside.

But few supporters of Lang’s showed and were vastly outnumbered by Minneapolis residents there in support of their immigrant neighbors.

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(Allison Kite of the Minnesota Star Tribune contributed to this story.)

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