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Jake Langpardon

Jan 20, 2025

Updated Jun 16, 2026
Net worth
Unknown
Crimes
january 6, weapons, obstruction, post pardon
Convicted of
Assaulting officers with deadly or dangerous weapon; civil disorder, restricted building or grounds (Jan. 6); after pardon, felony first-degree damage to property for destroying permitted 'Prosecute ICE' ice sculpture at Minnesota Capitol (Feb. 2026)
Original sentence
N/A (pardoned before trial); Minnesota: felony first-degree damage to property pending (Feb. 2026)
Time served
~4 years in pretrial detention before pardon

Background

Jake Lang (Edward Jacob Lang), of Narrowsburg, New York, was charged in the District of Columbia with assaulting law enforcement officers and related offenses for his conduct during the January 6, 2021, Capitol breach. He was arrested in January 2021 and held in pretrial detention for approximately four years without trial. He was pardoned on January 20, 2025, as part of President Trump's proclamation covering certain January 6 offenses. After his release he has been described as a conservative influencer, organized the "March Against Minnesota Fraud" in Minneapolis in January 2026, and has announced a run for U.S. Senate in Florida.

The Case

Lang was charged with assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers with a deadly or dangerous weapon (18 U.S.C. § 111(b)), civil disorder (18 U.S.C. § 231(a)(3)), unlawful entry on restricted building or grounds (18 U.S.C. § 1752(a)), and violent entry or disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds (40 U.S.C. § 5104(e)(2)). According to the FBI affidavit in support of his arrest warrant, video and photographs showed Lang at the lower west terrace door of the Capitol violently engaging with law enforcement. He raised a riot shield over his head and slammed it down repeatedly toward officers; in other footage he thrust the shield at officers and stood in the crowd while others swung bats and batons and threw projectiles. He retrieved an MPD helmet from the ground and wore it. In another video he held a dark and red baseball bat and swung, thrust, and jabbed it at officers multiple times, striking at least the shields they held. Lang posted images and video from the Capitol with captions including "1776 has commenced" and "THIS IS ME" pointing to the front of the crowd, and later "Pepper spray really does wonders for your complexion #1776." He remained in custody for roughly four years without trial—including hundreds of days in solitary confinement—before being pardoned. His conduct was part of the January 6 attack that disrupted the certification of the presidential election, injured law enforcement officers, and damaged public trust in the peaceful transfer of power.

The Pardon

On January 20, 2025, President Trump granted Lang a full pardon under a proclamation covering certain offenses relating to the events at or near the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. Lang was released from custody the following day.

Post-pardon charges

In February 2026, Ramsey County, Minnesota, prosecutors charged Lang with felony first-degree damage to property after he allegedly destroyed a permitted ice sculpture reading "PROSECUTE ICE" on the Minnesota State Capitol grounds. According to a criminal complaint summarized by FOX 9 and CBS Minnesota, the veterans group Common Defense had paid a local artist $6,250 to create the display and obtained a one-day permit to showcase it on Capitol steps on February 5, 2026. Around 2:30 p.m. that day, state troopers were alerted to vandalism after Lang—dressed in camouflage and identified in the complaint—was seen kicking down the letters "SECUTE" so the sculpture read "PRO ICE." He posted video of the incident to social media. When stopped by troopers, Lang said he was exercising his "First Amendment right to artistic expression" and that ice could not sustain its structure; prosecutors noted the First Amendment protects creating and displaying art but not damaging someone else's property. He was booked into Ramsey County Jail, pleaded not guilty at a March 2026 hearing, and a jury trial was scheduled for July 27, 2026. The charge carries up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine. Lawfare categorized Lang among five clemency recipients whose alleged post-pardon conduct occurred during a period he would still have been incarcerated but for the January 2025 pardon.

Post-pardon activism

Following his release, Lang has used his pardon to build a public profile as a far-right activist and media personality. In January 2026 he organized the "March Against Minnesota Fraud" in Minneapolis, which drew a modest group of supporters and a much larger crowd of counter-protesters who denounced his messaging about the 2020 election.

In early March 2026, Lang organized a small anti-Muslim protest near Gracie Mansion, the official New York City mayoral residence, under slogans such as "Stop the Islamic Takeover of New York City" and opposition to public Muslim prayer. Reporting describes him arriving in military-style camouflage and being closely escorted by NYPD officers as he and roughly a dozen supporters were surrounded by an estimated hundred-plus counter-protesters chanting against white nationalism and religious bigotry. During the confrontation, counter-protesters allegedly lit and threw at least one device wrapped in tape and packed with metal hardware toward the area where police and Lang's group were standing. NYPD officials later said bomb squad analysis indicated the device was an improvised explosive device capable of causing serious injury, and that a second similar device was recovered nearby; at least six people, including two men accused of handling the devices and another person accused of using pepper spray, were arrested as police treated the incident as a public-safety and potential terrorism matter in coordination with federal authorities. No injuries were reported, but the episode highlighted how Lang's post-pardon organizing has contributed to highly tense, sometimes volatile street confrontations around race, religion, and immigration in New York City.

Lang has also repeatedly inserted himself into North Texas disputes over immigration and religious communities. In spring 2025 he appeared at a "Protect White Americans" rally in the Dallas area after the stabbing death of Frisco student Austin Metcalf, speaking by phone with the victim's father and framing the killing as anti-white violence despite the father's public pleas not to politicize the tragedy. In December 2025 he helped organize a protest outside the East Plano Islamic Center's food pantry, with marchers chanting slogans such as "No Sharia law" on the route to Plano city hall. On May 19, 2026, he spoke during the open-microphone period at a Frisco City Council meeting where the council was considering appeals of zoning approvals for two Hindu temples and one mosque. For months, some residents and outside activists had framed the projects as part of an "Indian takeover," and Lang amplified that rhetoric with references to the debunked "great replacement" conspiracy, attacks on non-white children who had led the pledge of allegiance, and threats directed at council members, including remarks that officials "deserve to be strung" and that mosques should be burned. Mayor Jeff Cheney warned Lang repeatedly that he would be removed if he continued outbursts; meeting video posted by the city appears to cut off before showing whether he was escorted out. The council did not vote to overturn the zoning commission's approval of the worship centers.

Days before the Frisco appearance, Lang said he was involved in unfurling a large banner at a Washington Nationals baseball game promoting a white-nationalist website and calling for more than 100 million deportations. The team condemned the display as hateful, and at least one person connected to the stunt was banned from the ballpark.

Sources