Far-right influencer Jake Lang arrested for damaging 'Prosecute ICE' sculpture

ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - Far-right influence Jake Lang, who was pardoned for his role in the Jan. 6 riots, has been arrested after he damaged a "Prosecute ICE" sculpture at the Minnesota State Capitol. 

Jake Lang arrested in St. Paul 

What we know:

According to the Minnesota State Patrol, around 2:30 p.m. on Friday, Lang was seen kicking and breaking parts of a sculpture that said "Prosecute ICE" that was set up on the Capitol promenade. 

Lang, 30, was seen leaving the area in a vehicle and was stopped at Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and University Avenue by a state trooper. 

He was then arrested without incident and was booked into the Ramsey County Jail on suspicion of criminal damage to property. 

Lang posted a video to X of him kicking down the ice sculpture, which was installed earlier on Thursday by a veterans group to protest ICE's presence in Minnesota. 

Organizers respond

What they're saying:

The sculpture was unveiled Thursday by the activist group Common Defense, Minnesota Rep. Jamie Long and other community leaders. The group says they are "demanding justice and urging state-level actions to hold ICE and other rogue federal officials accountable amidst ongoing ICE raids." 

"I gave eight years of my life in service to this country in the military. For a January 6 insurrectionist to destroy our display is an attack on the First Amendment veterans like me fought to defend. Like the ICE agents who murdered Alex Pretti and Rebecca Good — these criminals need to be prosecuted," Jacob Thomas, a veteran and Common Defense’s communications director, said regarding the incident. 

"Don't let this sad stunt distract from what these veterans and lawmakers were here to say: ICE and the rogue federal agents terrorizing communities, killing and brutalizing people, and clearly breaking the law while they do it must be held accountable by state authorities," said Ryan Thomas, a St. paul resident who helped coordinate Thursday's unveiling. 

Lang in Minnesota

Dig deeper:

This isn't the first time Lang, who lives in Florida, has been in incidents in the Twin Cities. 

Lang held a protest outside Minneapolis City Hall earlier in January. Lang counter-protesters showed up, and he was chased by them. 

He then ran up to a woman in a car, bleeding, asking for help, and she and her friend drove him two blocks and asked him to get out. 

"We made it very clear we do not support the type of man he is," the woman told FOX 9. "The only commentary that he would say is like, Trump saved his life, and that he was, 'a bad boy.’ And it's like the cringiest thing I think I've actually ever heard anybody say in my life."

READ MORE: Jake Lang saved by woman who drove him away from counterprotesters in Minneapolis